Shortlisted nominations announced for the Best Men's Group or Program
Find out more about the shortlisted nominations for the for the Best Men's Group or Program award in the 2020 Men's Health Awards.
The award is open to any men's health group, large or small, who stands out for the way they are working to create a healthier future for men and boys.
Voting is open until Sunday 14 June at 5pm AEST.
MANIFEST was the most high profile new men's health event to hit Australia in 2019. Co-founded by Mike "The Man Coach" Campbell and JuVan Langford, supported by a dynamic leadership drawn from around Australia. MANIFEST was held at Sydney Town Hall over three days and included a leadership forum focused on the state of men's mental health. The gathering brought together a diverse mix of bright minds from a range of industries to talk about men's health and related issues.
The Man Walk provides an opportunity for men to get together to walk, talk and support each other in a regular and healthy way. It provides an environment that is positive, supportive and inclusive, where there is no pressure and no barriers to entry. Just an opportunity to walk, talk and support. What began as a small walking group in Kiama in 2018 has become a national phenomena, rapidly expanding from 1 group to around 70 sites across Australia in the past 12 months. The founders of the Man Walk say "we want to make it ok to talk, and we want to make it ok for men to ask for help if they need it.
Island of Men (IOM) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to creating transformational spaces for men. The organisation believes in doing mens work to support men, women and the wider community. IOM says the idea came from the recognition that to live a really fulfilled and purposeful life, men need access to a few key things: solidarity and brotherhood, tribe, permission to express fully with no fear of judgement, freedom, and lastly, tools to help them get out of their head and into their heart wisdom. Since June 2020, the IOM experience is also being offered online.
Tough Guy Book Club has been described as a"Fight Club for the mind". It's a men's book club that meets monthly in bars and pubs. All chapters meet at the same time on the same day to discuss the same book. It was launched in Australia in 2013 by Shay Leighton and has since grown to around 30 sites around Australia, the US and the UK. As one supporter said: "As a woman who has been watching from the sidelines, I am hugely grateful for the supportive culture this program provides men in my life and in the wider community. I have seen first-hand men reaching out to each other to support and be supported during tough times".
TOMNET (The Older Men's Network) is based in Toowoomba, Queensland. It provides older men with opportunities for mateship, the chance to re-connect with the community, and cope positively with life after loss. TOMNET's aim is to reach out to older men who are lonely, isolated, and in need of friendship. Men over 50 years of age are welcome to get involved with a range of TOMNET activities that create opportunities to building friendships and get involved.
Camping On Country is an Indigenous men's health program run by BUSH TV. Each month the program visits a remote community and runs camps which include local leadership. At the camps they provide a space for local leaders to discuss what health issues they face in their community, what programs are working or not working and work with the men to articulate their ideas for a health program targeted at their own men. They partner with health service providers to ensure the camps are safe, healthy and inspiring. Culture, Language and Law play a significant role in the camps and are embedded into the development of localised programs after the camps.
MAN v FAT Soccer launched in Australia as an initiative of the University of Western Australia, based on the acclaimed MAN v FAT Football program in the UK. Since the program’s inception in Australia, over 400 participants have lost a combined total of 3,734kg so far. Just as importantly however, a PhD study into the program has revealed significant benefits to players' Mental Health. One participant said "Being in a team environment, which I missed from my sporting days, gave me the motivation to keep losing weight each week so I didn't let my team mates down".
The Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health (FFCMH) brings together and supports a multi-disciplinary network of men's health researchers undertaking world-class research and delivering programs aimed at preventing and better treating the inter-related chronic conditions that contribute the most to ill-health, loss of independence and workforce participation and premature death in men. The Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health network extends to centres of research excellence nationally and internationally.
The Southern Men's Gathering is a men's-only event created to improve the emotional wellbeing of men and first held in 2019. The volunteer team behind the Gathering are now working on their 2020 Gathering under theme of The Authentic Man”. This organisers say this event will run counter the often narrow and repressive culture of traditional masculinity, where superficial conversation, competitiveness, disconnection and suppression of emotion tend to rule. Instead, they say, men who attend will connect deeply with other men, form support networks and community, and develop their emotional literacy.
Men's Resources Tasmania (MRT) is currently the most active State and Territory men's health organisation in Australia. Run mostly by volunteers, MRT is a community based, volunteer run, not-for-profit organisation that supports and promotes the wellbeing of men and boys in Tasmania. MRT aims to contribute a male voice to community conversations and public sector policy, particularly around social, health and wellbeing issues relevant to men. One of MRT's initiatives is to produce a Tasmanian version of The Blokes Book. It has distributed 10,000 copies of the Blokes’ Book since 2017 and has recently updated and relaunched this male-friendly resource.
For more than years, the OzHelp Foundation has delivered workplace programs and support services targeted to ‘hard to reach’ men with a heightened risk of suicide. This has been historically aimed at men predominantly in the building, construction and mining industries and, in more recent years applied to other largely male-dominated and hard to reach industry settings in metropolitan, remote/regional locations. More recently, OzHelp has targeted remote cattle stations in the Northern Territory to deliver targeted mental health and wellbeing support and services. OzHelp now reaches more than 40,000 men a year.
The Ochre Day Men’s Health Conference has been run annually by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) since 2013. It is a national forum for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male delegates, organisations and communities to share knowledge, design concepts and strengthen relationships that work to directly improve the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men. The purpose of the Ochre Day conference is to assist NACCHO to strategically develop this area as part of an overarching gender/culture based approach. Its motto is "Men's Health, Our Way. Let's Own It".
The Regional Men's Health Initiative has been working to raise awareness of men’s wellbeing in regional, rural and remote WA for many years. It is run by a team of people who are passionate about raising awareness of men's health and wellbeing in regional, rural and remote communities throughout WA. It's not a traditional "health organisation", rather it acts as a bridge of support and education to regional men, communities and health services. It is particularly know for it's male-friendly approach through initiatives like its Warrior Education Session and the Fast Track Pit Stop, an interactive approach to men's health that is themed around the servicing of a vehicle.
The Darwin Indigenous Men's Service (DIMS) is a not for profit organisation with a management committee that consists entirely of Indigenous men living in the Darwin Region. The organisation has Indigenous male staff delivering programs and services to Indigenous male clients to help improve their social and emotional well-being. It's programs include an Indigenous Men’s Healing Program that provides mentoring, men’s groups, yarning circles, cultural and healing activities, leadership workshops for Indigenous men.
In 2019 the City Of Palmerston's Youth, Sport and Recreation Lifestyle and Community team ran an event to celebrate International Men's Day at the local Recreation Centre. The council staff worked hard to create an event bringing together many stakeholders to collaborate on the day. The event included a range of free activities, including a 3 on 3 Basketball Comp for the guys, a Barbering Station promoting self care, a BBQ, an opportunity to learn to play the Didgeridoo. One of the key aims of the event was to highlight the local male mentors that are available to young men. The Youth team created a set of posters to support the event, identifying local mentors and where to find them should they need them.