Last year, Jenny and I were in charge of an outreach drive to build a community of organisations and charities around our work. During this time, we were fortunate to meet Sam Calderwood, from The Good Lad Initiative. They have run workshops with over 1000 men from universities, schools and other institutions, empowering them to become agents for positive change and masculinity. Through using scenarios, they raise important and complex gender issues from sexual consent to power and responsibility, so that groups can openly discuss their ideas. It soon became apparent that we were working towards a common goal, and sought ways in which we could join forces. We are excited to announce that we received an email today informing us that Sam will be using stories from Being ManKind volume 1 to develop scenarios for their workshops. We are looking forward to working closely with the Good Lad Initiative to develop these resources and explore other ways in which we can work together.

Sam has been a great support to us, and he has also helped to make important connections with other organisations. Based on his recommendations, we are now working with The Mix to develop stories for their online case studies, and form part of a team developing resources for the PSHE ‘Curriculum for Life’ project with Lambeth Youth Council. Maria Taylor (Executive Chair and Young Counsellor of Education at Lambeth Youth Council) has been the driving force behind this incredible project. Amidst preparations for sitting GCSE exams, Maria chaired a roundtable event to get the project off the ground. We were awed by her confidence and abilities, and cannot help but think back to what we had achieved at her age. It is safe to say that she puts us to shame, but inspires us to work harder in equal measures!

Over the next few weeks, we will be developing resources on ‘Masculinity’ and ‘Gangs & youth violence’ using the Being ManKind stories as the primary focus. A pilot will take place over the Summer with a view to develop an online database of PSHE resources that can be rolled out in Lambeth and extended to other boroughs. We are proud to be part of this project, and look forward to updating you on new developments in the coming months.

Priya