What do The Godfather 2, The Empire Strikes Back and Being ManKind all have in common? The sequels are arguably (definitely) better than the originals.

We are working on Volume 2 and we don’t want to blow our own trumpets here (that’s a lie, we definitely do) but this one is shaping up to be even bigger and better that Volume 1. It will make you laugh, cry, think, it might inspire you to reconnect with friends or pursue that long-lost dream of joining the circus. Since our Kickstarter campaign in April, Priya and I, very much like Frodo and Sam (not least because we have incredibly hairy and disproportionately large feet), have been on an epic journey to find more inspiring men with incredible stories to tell.

Volume 2 is not just a rehash of the same topics and stories from Volume 1, like Home Alone 2 – same storyline just set in a different city, including the scary old person who turns out to have a heart of gold. We all saw that coming. Volume 2 covers a whole range of new topics and we have used the school PSHE syllabus to help us fill the gaps. You will find stories about OCD, testicular cancer, bromance, banter, sex, racism, addiction and so much more.

Although you may have noticed in the media that there is more awareness around men’s issues, unfortunately there is still much more work to be done. We are often contacted by teachers who come across Being ManKind during a desperate search for resources specifically designed for boys. We have lost count of the number of men who have said that they wished the book had been around when they were younger as it would have help them. In fact, we were contacted by a child psychologist the other day who is treating a young lad who suffers from IBD. He gave him Ed Corrie’s story to read about his experiences with Crohn’s disease and it really struck a chord with him. He took a lot of comfort from the fact that Ed has had one of the harder paths with the illness and is now doing really well. All of these things make our work worthwhile and we hope Volume 2 will resonate with even more young people.

What is evident, though, is that we need to reach boys from an early age so that they can be equipped with the knowledge and resilience to deal with their experiences before they happen. So we have decided to create a book specifically designed for primary school children. In order to help us in our search for stories, we will be launching a competition with the incredibly pithy title ‘The Young Role Model of the Year Competition 2018’.

And with that, I must go and watch Aliens.