Winners of the world’s only awards celebrating those who support the well-being of men and boys were announced on International Men’s Day, Friday November 19th.
The National Men and Boys Awards, founded by the Men and Boys Coalition charity, recognise individuals and organisations who have made an outstanding contribution to promoting care, compassion and social change for men and boys in the UK.
The winners include a male infertility awareness raising campaign; a grassroots theatre company that stages plays with young male asylum seekers; charities working to support the physical and mental health of men and boys; and a young male survivor of rape who advocates on behalf of male victims of sexual violence.
It is understood that these are the only such awards to take place not just in the UK, but anywhere in the world.
Videos of the Award winners are available here:
Videos from each of the shortlisted nominees are available here:
The National Men and Boys Awards took place as an online event, with videos of each of the three shortlisted nominees for each award category, shared on Twitter in the days running up to November 19th. Videos announcing the winning nominees were shared on International Men’s Day itself.
Dan Bell, CEO of the Men and Boys Coalition, said: “There is an incredible network of charities, practitioners and academics in the UK who are doing crucial, unsung work on the ground to support men and boys and raise awareness of the many issues they face — often on a shoestring budget and with a lack of support from policy makers.
“The Men and Boys Coalition was founded to champion the men and boys sector in the UK — and what better way to do that than to shout about this work with our National Men and Boys Awards.
“I am absolutely delighted to announce our award winners, whose work is quite literally re-shaping the understanding of, and provision for, issues of disadvantage that disproportionately affect men and boys in the UK.”
Winners in each of the six categories are:
- Campaigner of the Year — For an individual showing outstanding achievement in providing care, compassion or social change for men and boys
Finlay McFarlane, in recognition of his exceptional advocacy for male survivors of rape and abuse in Scotland, culminating in the governing SNP becoming the first major party in Britain to adopt the development of a parallel strategy to prevent intimate violence against men and boys as a manifesto commitment.
- Project of the Year– For a charity, organisation or project showing outstanding achievement in providing care, compassion or social change for men and boys
Prostate Cancer UK for the launch of the outstanding online risk checker, and for Prostate Cancer UK’s powerfully male-positive campaign messaging.
The charity’s campaigns show unequivocal belief in the value of men, summarised by the moving strapline: ‘Men, we are with you’. This sentiment rings out clear, in everything from the upbeat ‘Keep Dads Dancing’ film, to the rousing use of Shakespeare’s ‘what a piece of work is a man’.
- Award for Public Understanding — For a writer, academic or media creative who has made an outstanding contribution to our understanding of men and boys and their needs this year
HIMfertility and Rhod Gilbert for their outstanding awareness raising work on male infertility, through the BBC documentary ‘Stand Up to Infertility’, the launch of the HIMfertility information service and the provision of support groups for men.
- Diversity and Inclusion Award — For any individual or organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to combatting unfair prejudice and discrimination against men and boys in all their diversity
Phosphoros Theatre for their work in supporting the welfare and personal development of young male refugees while helping share their stories. In a year when the needs and circumstances of refugees, and Afghan asylum-seekers in particular, have been forced back to the top of the news agenda, Phosphoros Theatre’s work has never been more urgent or important.
- Lifetime Achievement Award — For any individual or organisation that has made a significant lifelong contribution to supporting men and boys
Jane Powell for her extraordinary work in transforming awareness of male suicide in the UK, as founder and former CEO of male suicide prevention charity, CALM, and for a lifetime’s service to charities.
The award winners were selected from a highly competitive field, with nominations from across the UK.
Those shortlisted include Mary Curnock Cook CBE, former head of UCAS, for her work calling for action on boys’ educational underachievement; North East Young Dads and Lads, for their grassroots support for young fathers from disadvantaged backgrounds; Dr Siobhan Weare, for her ground-breaking academic research into male victims of female sexual assault; Dr Jon Rey-Hastie, for is advocacy on behalf of young men with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and dad-blogger, John Adams, for his work raising awareness of the issues faced by stay at home fathers.