Schedule
0900 – Registration, Tea, Coffee & Pastries.
0930 – Introductions and welcomes: Ally Fogg, Chair, Men and Boys Coalition.
0945 – Professor Alan White: Men’s Health, the Journey So Far.
1010 – PANEL: Building the Campaign for a Men’s Health Strategy,
with Martin Tod, Peter Baker, Dr Noel Stephenson, Dr Shane Gordon
1110 – COFFEE
1125 – Professor Paul Galdas: Who cares for the carers?
1150 – Professor Kate Hunt: Engaging men in healthier lifestyles through sporting organisations
1215 – Jeff Watts in Conversation with Sonia Shaljean: One man’s journey to health.
1230 – LUNCH
1330 – Sector speed-dating / poster display Q&A
1430 – Sarah Coghlan: Movember, Beyond the Moustache
1455 – COFFEE
1510 – Engaging Men and Boys, Lessons from the Charity Sector
with Sonia Shaljean, Charlie Bethel, Marvin Gilbert, Neil Waine
1610 – Round up and discussion.
1630 – National Men and Boys Awards Presentations
1730 – Goodbyes, bar open until 7pm.
Stoller Hall ‘Guest’ Wi-fi Password – 4rP6s7PM
Live stream of keynote sessions –
Our Special Guests
Professor Alan White
Alan was the Founder and Co-director of the Centre for Men’s Health at Leeds Beckett University, he is now Emeritus Professor of Men’s Health at the University having retired in 2017. He was a co-founder of the Men’s Health Forum Charity and was the Chair of the Board of Trustees for 12 years, he is now its Patron. Alan is a Board member of the International Society for Men’s Health. He was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Men and Boys Awards 2023.
Martin Tod
Martin Tod is a long-term campaigner for men’s health and coordinates the Men’s Health Forum’s campaign for a men’s health strategy. He was Chief Executive of the Men’s Health Forum from 2013 until August this year and has been Leader of Winchester City Council since 2022.
Peter Baker
Peter Baker is Director of Global Action on Men’s Health and a consultant to the European Cancer Organisation on HPV issues. His previous roles include Campaign Director of HPV Action UK and Chief Executive of the Men’s Health Forum (GB).
Dr Noel Richardson
Dr Noel Richardson has extensive experience in the area of men’s health at a research, policy and advocacy level. He was principal author of Ireland’s National Men’s Health Policy (2009). He has published a broad range of research reports and academic papers in the area of men’s health. His current research interests include; men and mental health; and health promotion interventions targeted at ‘hard to reach’ groups of men in community and workplace settings.
Dr Shane Gordon
Shane is Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation for East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, a large integrated acute-and-community healthcare provider in the East of England.
A GP by background, he is passionate about improving services, quality and patient experience. Shane has also been a chief executive of an NHS commissioning organisation, and associate medical director for the East of England NHS, leading local and large-scale service change. He is a founding council member of the East of England Clinical Senate.
Shane’s recent strategic initiatives include leading the fastest and most cost-effective NHS Trust merger (to create his current Trust), creating the largest elective orthopaedic centre in England, launching the first Community Diagnostic Centre in the East of England and creating a centre of excellence in robotic-assisted surgery.
Professor Paul Galdas
Paul Galdas embarked on his career as a Registered Nurse at City Hospital, Birmingham, working on the Coronary Care Unit, before transitioning to St James’s Hospital, Leeds. He earned his PhD from the University of Leeds in 2006, studying the influence of masculinity on men’s help-seeking behaviour for cardiac chest pain.
Paul has been actively involved in leading men’s health research since this time, exploring men’s help-seeking and health service engagement in various areas, including coronary heart disease, depression, perinatal mental health, and chronic illness. His current research primarily centres on early mental health intervention in male frontline NHS workers (the BALM programme).
He has held academic positions at the University of British Columbia and the University of Sheffield, and has been with the University of York since 2011.
Dr Kate Hunt
Kate is Professor in Behavioural Sciences and Health at the University of Stirling. Her research has covered a wide range of areas including: gender, health and help-behaviours; commercial/media influences on health; design and evaluation of public health interventions and policy; experiences of health and illness; and health of people living and working in prisons. For example, she led the Tobacco in Prisons study, which was a large multi-method evaluation of the process and outcomes of implementing smoke-free policy in prisons. Recent work also includes the experience and impact of Long Covid.
Kate has served on several UK funding boards and is Chair of the Chief Scientist Office Health Improvement, Protection and Services Research Committee. She was previously President of the UK Society for Social Medicine and Population Health, and was recently appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy.
Sonia Shaljean
Sonia Shaljean is founder and managing director of Lads Needs Dads, the award-winning Essex-based CIC which runs mentoring programmes and other support for boys ages 11-15 without a father figure in their lives. She is also a Trustee of the Men and Boys Coalition.
Jeff Watts
Jeff Watts is a passionate campaigner for men’s health, wellbeing and mental health based in Essex, who brings his own lived experience to promoting healthier lifestyles and modern masculinity. As a senior employee with Cadent Gas Ltd, he coordinates their Men’s Engagement Network, sponsors of this year’s National Men and Boys Awards.
Sarah Coghlan
Sarah is a Men’s Health Advisor at Movember, having previously worked as the Global Director of Men’s Health Promotion Programmes. Part of Movember’s original start twenty years ago, since 2008 Sarah has led growth initiatives at Movember, seeing them raise more than $1.6 billion via peer-to-peer fundraising and commercial partnerships. Movember today supports more than 6 million participants, operates across the world, and funds over 1700 health and social programs. She serves as Movember’s media spokesperson in the UK and Europe, with appearances on national TV, broadcast platforms, radio, podcast interviews, panels and speaking events.
Sarah has a multi-disciplinary background in social impact strategy, partnerships and coalition building, brand development, communications, marketing, program design and behaviour change.
In her spare time, she’ll likely be reading, hosting dinner, planning adventures, and exploring new parts of the world. Fascinated by health, gender, and the systems and norms that combine to create systemic problems and looking to connect opportunities and people to create innovative, positive change at scale.
Neil Waine
Neil is one of the Project Development Champions at Andy’s Man Club, based in West Yorkshire. Having taken the step and first walked through the door as a group user, he went on to become a group facilitator and now oversees the Project Development Team and Partnership Strategy – spreading the word about Andy’s Man Club to businesses, charities, sports teams and anyone willing to listen!
Marvin Gilbert
Marvin is a senior mental health practitioner for the charity 42nd Street. For over 40 years 42nd Street has been providing young people in Manchester with mental and emotional health support in a variety of contexts. Marvin is a senior lead on their Supporting Black Men service.
Charlie Bethel
Charlie Bethel is Chief Officer of UK Men’s Sheds Association. Having studied Industrial Design at University, joining UK Men’s Sheds Association allowed him to bring together three of his passions: organisational growth, increasing wellbeing and a love of craft and design. His role focuses on growing the organisation to sustain and support Men’s Sheds across the UK.
And your hosts for the day….
Ally Fogg
Ally is a co-founder and chair of the Men and Boys Coalition. As a professional writer, editor and journalist he has written extensively on the politics of men’s health and wellbeing, alongside more wide-ranging activism for social justice and the environment. He stubbornly retains a Scottish accent despite 30 years in Manchester, where his proudest achievement is raising two healthy, happy sons – with a recent promotion to Granddad.
Mark Brooks OBE
Mark is a co-founder and Trustee of the Men and Boys Coalition. He is also founder and Chairman of the Mankind Initiative, the UK’s foremost charity to support male victims of domestic abuse. He has been one of the UK’s best-known and dedicated activists for men’s safety, health and wellbeing for over 25 years and is currently advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Issues affecting Men and Boys