Exploring Masculinities in England

This pilot collaboration brings together ten community-based organizations across England to engage boys and young men in exploring gender and masculinities and to create positive social change.

What we're doing
Voices & Stories

A young person participating in a Warren Youth Project program.

Global Fund for Children supports a network of six community-based organizations across England that are engaging young people in exploring gender justice, understanding the role of masculinities in their lives, and creating positive social change.

This initiative is a partnership between The National Lottery Community Fund and GFC.

Despite being a vital area of work, healthy masculinities is an area of civil society that is sporadically funded and often misunderstood. Global Fund for Children’s Healthy Masculinities programme will work to change this by supporting partners to amplify the voices of boys and young men, support gender inclusion activism, and explore a range of mediums that will support a healthy masculinities movement.

Building on the work of community based partners across England, and with a new focus on underserved rural communities and organisations operating beyond major cities, this initiative seeks to address the prevailing gaps by prioritising trauma-informed approaches to masculinities and funding preventative work tailored to boys and young men. It is a call to reimagine masculinities, promoting boys’ and young men’s visions of alternative, expansive, and healthy expressions that acknowledge the intersections of race, class, gender identity, sex, location, religion, and ability and the realities of their lives. Moreover, it aims to rectify the glaring absence of youth voices in this discourse, providing a platform for children and young people to share their own perspectives.

This initiative engages local organizations in advancing gender justice using approaches based on respect, equity, and human rights by:

Creating safe spaces for boys and young men to open up new conversations, reflect together on healthy emotional development and relationships, and engage with others in their communities.
Putting youth in the lead to design program activities and implement their own vision for change across England.
Strengthening networks for advocacy and learning by uniting local organizations working with boys and young men, creating opportunities to tackle shared issues together from diverse perspectives, and working together toward positive social change.

GFC is providing these local organizations with flexible funding and capacity development services to support their growth and effectiveness.

YOH

London, UK

YOH is a locally led community group focused on supporting marginalized children and young people in and around Central and East London and parts of Essex. Using an award-winning approach, YOH engages young people that have slipped through the net of existing service provision and supports their transition to self-empowerment and positive outcomes. Its support ranges from providing essential supplies to employment access.

Warren Youth Project

Hull, UK

The Warren Youth Project is a free community resource center for young people in Hull, England, where youth can access a range of services to support their wellbeing, employability, education, and creativity. Its programs – which are guided by young people – include counseling, a food bank and cafeteria, youth employment services, social-justice campaigning, emergency support, arts projects, complementary therapies, and a recording label and studio.

Violence Intervention Project

London, UK

The Violence Intervention Project (VIP) supports young people who have been involved in or are at risk of violent behavior. Through one-on-one outreach and group sessions, as well as school workshops, sports activities, and camps, VIP helps youth to open up about their experiences, develop positive relationships, and end the cycle of violence in their communities.

JUVENIS

London, UK

With an emphasis on serving youth involved in or at risk of criminal behavior, Juvenis helps young people in South London to turn their lives around and re-engage with employment, education, or training. Its specialized programs include mentorship for youth in police custody, therapy and life skills training for survivors of domestic violence, an expressive safe space for girls and young women, and individualized support for disenfranchised youth entering the job market.

HAVEN

Sheffield, UK

The only organization of its kind in Sheffield, England, Haven provides specialist support services for children and young people affected by domestic abuse. Its flagship program focuses on strengthening the bond between children and their safe parent/caregiver after they have left an abusive relationship. Haven also offers crisis intervention, group support and preventative programs, and training for professionals working with children and youth.

Breaking the Silence

Bradford, UK

Breaking the Silence (BTS) supports a particularly underserved population of West Yorkshire: Black-African, Afro-Caribbean, and South Asian boys and young men who are affected by, or are survivors of, sexual abuse, many of whom are reluctant to seek help because of structural racism and patriarchal cultural structures. BTS conducts extensive community outreach to find its clients, supports them through interventions to keep them safe, and then offers individual and group counseling to meet each survivor’s unique needs.