Gamble takes on full-time Man Anchor role

Industry mental health advocate Steve Gamble is moving to a full-time role at Man Anchor, and is receiving strong industry support for the move, which sees him leave Böttcher after 16 years.

What started out as a passion project for mental and physical health awareness has evolved, with strong support from the printing industry.

Gamble says that managing director, Böttcher Systems Mitch Mulligan, who he has worked with since 2005, has been one of the driving forces behind Man Anchor.

“Mitch has been supportive in so many ways,” said Gamble who refers to Mulligan as a "dear friend" who has shaped him not only in his role there as national sales manager, but also as a man.

“In my roles at Böttcher I have been honoured to be able to walk into almost every print shop in Australia, and often people would share their personal experiences with me when they realised that I was also the Man Anchor guy,” he said.

Gamble says that since the beginning, the printing industry has been "really supportive and receptive" to his work. He has spoken to many print business, trained staff, and enlightened owners and managers that mental health is key to business success. He was the main presenter at this year's Women in Print breakfast series. He is also a regular Print21 columnist.

“I feel like the luckiest man in the world to go off and do something that I am so passionate about," he added.

He says that Matt Aitken, group chief executive officer, IVE Group was one of the first people to reach out to him. Since then, Gamble confirms that he has trained around 50 IVE staff, and spoken to at least half its workforce, and says that Aitken has been a mentor to him.

The role at Man Anchor initially came about when Gamble was approached when mental health charity, Gotcha4Life offered him the funding to go full time, with further support from the Northern Beaches mental health organisation Head-Above-Water headed by Konica Minolta channel manager Andrew Ward. Head-Above-Water runs an annual 24-hour Swimathon at Collarory beach pool to support local mental health initiatives.

Now working at Man Anchor full-time, Gamble and his team are setting plans in motion to expand into regional areas, such as country towns in Victoria, regional towns in NSW, and Far North Queensland.

He says that his team, which consists of what he calls an “eclectic bunch” of five contractors, each bring something to the table and can be matched to the appropriate client.

They are all working towards a common good, that being "health is health".

"We all have the right to seek support, to be healthy - both physically and mentally,” said Gamble.