How Movember Is Investing In Mental Health Initiatives

When the effects CoVid-19 began to take effect at the start of 2020, I, like so many people and organisations in NZ, was hugely concerned about the impacts on Movember, our ability to fundraise and continue to invest in programmes that focus on helping men live happier, healthier and longer lives. We were in a situation where our work was as important as it had ever been and our need to support our community had never been greater, but we were also so conscience of only fundraising where appropriate.

Suicide is a really complex problem, with each individual influenced by unique factors. These can include stressful life events such as the breakdown of a relationship, losing a job or becoming a father. So many had to and still are grappling with the uncertainty, anxiety, financial stress and job insecurity that go hand-in-hand with a pandemic, and for those with mental health conditions, these times present significantly difficult challenges. In addition, men experiencing social isolation and loneliness are at greater risk of anxiety, depression and even suicide.

The main Movember campaign is now finished I am again blown away by the support of our community considering the challenges outlined above. Over 11 thousand Mo Bros and Sisters and over 60,000 individual donations saw over $2 million raised to ensure our work can continue. The support given is as significant as the men’s health issues we are trying to effect, but it is the behaviour of our community that’s gives me absolute confidence that we are making progress.

CV did many things and one of the most positive was that it helped us begin to rediscover our sense of community, when forced apart it made us realise we like to come together, we do care about each other and when faced with adversity, it was the community not the individual that provided one of the most significant remedies. My greatest hope is that the hugely positive behaviours created through CV, carried on through Movember, still remain. That they become habit, that we stay connected, that we share challenges so that we can overcome them, that we understand our triggers and those of our mates so we can act on them.

We are so lucky to have such a generous community that supports us and we take the responsibility of allocating those funds very seriously. We are fortunate to be a local charity with a global footprint so funds raised in NZ support local programmes, but we are able to work within global network which ensures we have the best minds collaborate on Movember New Zealand’s investments. How do we do this particularly in mental health?

We’re doing this by investing a total of NZD $11.82m across three major funding opportunities: The First Responders Program, The Social Connections Challenge and The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride Social Connections Challenge.

So, how do these funding opportunities work?

We advertise the opportunity as broadly as possible to the general community, (e.g. researchers, community organisations and social entrepreneurs), inviting them to pitch an idea or submit an application.

Once the funding opportunities close, submissions are assessed through a peer review process with an external panel of subject matter experts from each participating country.

Movember uses a funding model that involves providing project teams with seed funding to help develop their idea or to pilot their program to see if it works. The projects with the biggest potential to improve men’s mental health are identified and may be allocated additional funding to enable them to be delivered and scaled.

This funding model helps us road test the most promising ideas and build the evidence needed so that they can be delivered on a large scale. This is what Movember does best – we identify an issue, support it financially and prove it up to the point where it becomes self-sustaining.

It’s a massive undertaking which can take months to complete, but none of it would be possible without our dedicated Mo community – your passion and commitment is what fuels all our efforts.

First Responders Grants Program

Is aiming to address the needs of first responders who experience higher rates of mental ill-health and suicide compared with the rest of the population.

In partnership with The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, we’ve earmarked an initial investment of NZD $6.85M over the next two years to support First Responder projects in New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, the UK and the US as well as Veteran and First Responder Initiatives in Australia and Canada. A minimum of eight programs that show promise in improving the mental health of men in these groups and build the evidence for effective interventions will be supported through this initiative.

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS CHALLENGE

The Social Connections Challenge is an opportunity to shake things up and capitalise on the amazing ways that people have been keeping connected using technology during the COVID-19 global pandemic. For this challenge, we’re investing NZD $3.77m in digital or technology-focused ideas that maintain or strengthen social connections and tackle isolation among at-risk groups of men.

Up to 75 ideas across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK will be shortlisted. From those, between 7–16 projects will be selected for co-development with Movember.

For this challenge, we’ll be focusing on men who are at greater risk of social isolation because of where they live, their socio-economic status or cultural background.

DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN’S RIDE SOCIAL CONNECTIONS CHALLENGE

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride Social Connections Challenge is seeking new ideas to strengthen connections between motorcycle riders and help to improve the mental wellbeing of men in those communities. Riding can be inherently isolating so we’re looking for concepts that will bring men together through a shared love of the pastime. For this challenge, we’re focusing on middle-aged men who are dealing with key life challenges as well as young riders in need of mentorship.

Using funds raised by The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride community, this NZD $1.2 million-opportunity will operate in two phases.

Phase 1 has seen 18 development grants awarded to applicants from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and the US to pitch and develop their idea.

Phase 2 will see a maximum of 10 pilot project grants, valued at up to NZD $78,000, allocated to selected initiatives. These grants will enable the most promising initiatives to be delivered and trialled with identified motorcycling communities.

Thank you for helping us fund programmes that are helping men in New Zealand.