Movember announces first wave of mental health grant recipients

We're stoked to announce the first-round recipients of Movember's Scaling What Works grants.

Scaling What Works is a $10.38 million grant funding program that aims to supercharge mental health initiatives that have shown real promise in improving mental health and wellbeing for young boys and men, across community or workplace settings.

Programs receiving funding across Australia:

• The University of Melbourne’s Dads Tuning in to Kids aims to strengthen connections between fathers and their children through building emotional competence
• Reclink Australia’s Western Sydney Men's Mental Health & Gambling Harm Prevention Program delivers targeted sports and recreation programs to people experiencing gambling harm, social isolation, and poor mental health
• Victoria University’s collaboration with the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation Sons of the West program aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of men in CALD communities with interactive presentations, physical activities, and events
• Top Blokes Foundation’s Top Blokes Mentoring Program is an early intervention program offering weekly interactive mental health mentoring sessions to vulnerable young males

Programs receiving funding in the UK:

• Beyond Equality’s Collective Resilience with Men in Sports and Community Settings will train local community facilitators to run interactive workshops for men, helping them rethink gendered socialisation to create more inclusive cultures that encourage help-seeking
• Best Beginnings’ They Call Me Dad is an early intervention program that supports GBTQ+ men transitioning into parenthood
• SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health)’s Achieving Active Lives is an early intervention program that promotes physical activity and positive behaviour change
• Sport in Mind's Sport in Mind is an intervention program that uses sport to engage socioeconomically disadvantaged men with a high risk of mental ill-health or suicide
• Growing2gether's youth mentoring program pairs young mentors facing disadvantage with children with social/personal challenges
• Rugby League Cares’ Offload is a program delivered by current and former rugby league players and professionals, using lived experience to help men build mental fitness. The project supports men within the construction industry, empowering them to take control of their mental health
• Age NI’s Good Vibrations will support the mental health and wellbeing of Men aged 50+ in communities and workplaces across Northern Ireland

Programs receiving funding in Canada:

• The University of Toronto will adapt and scale the evidence-based YBMen program for African, Caribbean, and Black males, aged 16-30, who have experienced the murder of family members and/or friends in five neighbourhoods disproportionately impacted by homicide in Toronto, Canada.
• Developed by the Centre for Sexuality in Calgary, WiseGuyz is a health promotion program that supports boys aged 13-15, to understand how gender norms impact their health and wellbeing. This project will help to scale WiseGuyz in criminal justice settings.

Each of the successful initiatives will receive between $250,000 and $500,000 of funding over the next two years, allowing them to scale their reach and impact, in an effort to fast-track mental health outcomes in local communities.

The Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) will evaluate the programs to ensure they are delivering the best possible outcomes in communities that may be more disproportionately affected by poor mental wellbeing.

Owen Brigstock-Barron, Movember’s Director of Community and Workplace Programs said, “It’s great to see such a diverse range of mental health initiatives represented in Scaling What Works.

"Established initiatives will target boys and men from culturally diverse backgrounds, GBTQ+ communities, Indigenous communities, and those living in socially disadvantaged areas.

"Scaling evidence-based initiatives allows us to have an immediate impact on those most at risk, breaking down barriers and enabling boys and men to get the support they need at the earliest possible stage.

"It’s really exciting to think about the instant impact these programs will have in local communities.”

More recipients of Movember's Scaling What Works grants will be announced soon.

To learn more about the impact your donations are having on men's health, check out the Movember impact hub.