International Men’s Day
At the United Grand Lodge of England, we want to help spread the word about key issues that many men face in their day-to-day lives, Freemason or not, which is why we are celebrating International Men’s Day on November 19th.
While Freemasonry prides itself on being an inclusive place for men to get support from their Lodges and friends, it’s not always easy to identify what the issues are, know how to assist others or even just ask for help.
International Men’s Day is a yearly celebration both in the UK and the rest of the world to help raise awareness of male-related concerns, making positive steps in improving the lives of both men and boys and creating positive conversations about men and masculinity.
The annual event focuses on a wide range of topics, such as:
- Mental health issues and the high male suicide rate, which is three times more than women
- The challenges faced by men, young men and boys at all stages of education and work, including attainment, re-training, redundancy and unemployment
- Men’s physical health, including male cancers such as prostate cancer and testicular cancer
- The challenges faced by the marginalised men and boys in society for example, homeless men, boys who are in care, school exclusions, and men who have been or are in prison etc.
- The challenges faced by men who are fathers, particularly new and separated fathers
- Male victims of violence and survivors of sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based crime, stalking and slavery
- Creating positive images and role models of everyday working men, rather than celebrities.
- Improving gender equality and gender relations
- Making the world a better place for everyone
A key pillar of International Men’s Day is improving gender equality and gender relations. International Men’s Day also takes a gender inclusive stance, believing issues affecting women and young girls should also be resolved. The yearly celebration also recognises the connection between gender and other inequalities affecting both men and boys, such as race and sexuality.
There are several branches of Freemasonry that advocate and help support men’s issues, in particular mental health.
Masonic Charitable Foundation supporting men across the UK
The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) supports a number of charities, schemes and initiatives to help aid men’s mental health and well-being.
The MCF made a donation of £60,000 to part fund Open Age Men’s Space Project, an initiative to help men over the age of 50 who are affected by isolation and loneliness. The project created a number of social activities for over 150 lonely and isolated men, including IT classes for beginners, walking groups, gardening, cookery sessions and walking football.
Open Age’s Iain Cassidy, said: ‘We’re very grateful to London Freemasons for their generous grant, which will allow us to continue to reach out to lonely and isolated older men across West London, giving them opportunities for social interaction, fun and friendship.
‘The benefits of this activity are measurable and clear and can have a massive impact on mental and physical wellbeing as well as general quality of life.’
Freemasons’ themselves have also been directly raising money to help support men in their local areas.
Northumberland Freemasons Coastal Challenge Walk
Freemasons in Northumberland took on a gruelling 26-mile Northumberland Coastal Challenge Walk to raise over £700 in aid of Cramlington Man Shed, a self-funded community workshop which provides men with a good opportunity to support their physical and mental health.
Freemason Gary Breach, who carried out the walk, said: ’We hope this money raised goes some way towards their current goal of attaining bigger working premises so that they can increase their membership and assist more men in the community.’
Find out more information about International Men’s Day online or learn in detail about the issues and challenges for everyday men, then take a look online.
