The Barstool Brothers was formed in 2019 in a Wollongong Burger Bar called His Boy Elroy, with the idea of creating a safe environment where, at an organised monthly catch up, men could enjoy a free burger in a comfortable setting, conducive to healthy conversations about mental health.
This simple concept was incredibly well received and from there we started hosting
multiple events per month, all free to our members to encourage men to further solidify
these relationships in an authentic and genuine manner.
These events include yoga,
bowling, bushwalking, golf and more.
By removing the toxicity around the combination of alcohol and mental health in our
venue, we were further able to bring the community together and reframe how regular,
everyday men look at using connections & conversations when dealing with mental
health issues over the choice of using excessive alcohol consumption.
Seeing these results first hand at His Boy Elroy, we questioned ‘How can we expand
this concept in other communities whilst maintaining a healthy culture of men supporting
men in licensed venues?’.
In order to expand the Raising the Bar Foundation (renamed from ‘The Bartsool
Brothers’) into other regions, we realised there needed to be education in venues to
ensure that the events were held with the same integrity and care that had gone into our
Wollongong community.
The Barstool Project is the Raising the Bar Foundation education initiative, formed to
train and educate employees in hospitality & tourism venues in mental health
awareness and communication with the aim of improving the baseline education and
culture within licensed venues
