A suicide prevention ­charity has dubbed 2014 the Year of the Male and published a new Charter For The Contemporary Man.

Calm, the Campaign Against Living Miserably, is leading the year-long drive to examine and celebrate what it means to be a man.

It has published a charter calling on people to pledge support for a range of issues, including a change in the way men are portrayed in the media.

The document also calls on people to challenge assumptions about men's roles and skills in the workplace and rethink the rights and responsibilities of men in family life.

The charter forms part of Calm's ongoing campaign to reduce male suicide, the biggest killer of men under 35 in the UK.

Calm director Jane Powell said: "Some 77% of all suicides are male and we are concerned that part of the problem is the pressure that men face to live up to their own, and other people's expectations."