Partnership with Movember and People’s Health Trust to trial new approaches to improve men’s health
Men will be given greater support to live longer, healthier lives through a new multi-million-pound partnership with Movember and People’s Health Trust.
The Department of Health and Social Care will join forces with the charities to support community-led men’s health projects and tackle health inequalities.
The Men’s Health Community Fund is backed by £3 million from the Department of Health and Social Care with Movember and People’s Health Trust more than doubling the government’s initial funding to give an overall investment of £6.3 million.
It will pioneer an innovative approach — bringing Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) together to play a central role in delivering services and testing new ways to support communities, learn what genuinely works for men, and build better ways of reaching those who are least likely to engage with traditional services.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
Grants will back community projects that reach underserved men and boys aged 16+, particularly in areas experiencing the greatest disadvantage and at key moments in their lives. This could include:
An evaluation will be funded via the National Institute for Health and Care Research to ensure the programme generates robust evidence to inform future policy and delivery.
Michelle Terry, CEO of Movember UK, said:
John Hume, Chief Executive of People’s Health Trust, said:
Alongside delivering support, the programme will identify what works best and share proven approaches, so successful projects can be expanded and replicated across the country.
The Men’s Health Strategy set out the bold plan to take comprehensive action to tackle the specific physical and mental health challenges men and boys face every day.
Men can be less likely to seek help and more likely to suffer in silence. This, combined with a higher propensity to smoke, drink, gamble and use drugs, means men’s health is suffering, having a significant impact on families, workplaces and communities. This strategy will help men and boys to live longer, healthier lives.
The new partnership is one of a number of steps being taken. Suicide is one of the biggest killers of men under 50 and three-quarters of all suicides are men. That’s why the government is also investing £3.6 million over the next 3 years in suicide prevention projects for middle-aged men in local communities across areas of England where men are at most risk of taking their own lives, many of which are also the most deprived.
The projects will break down barriers that middle-aged men face in seeking support, such as the stigma associated with seeking help and a lack of awareness of what is available and how to access it. Projects will be co-designed with experts and men with lived experience of mental health crises and suicidal thoughts. This comes on top of expanding mental health teams in schools to ensure an additional 900,000 pupils have access to support by April 2026.
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