On 27 March 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care announced a partnership with Movember and People’s Health Trust to create a £6.3 million Men’s Health Community Fund, including £3 million from DHSC, to back community‑led projects for men and boys aged 16 and over. (gov.uk)
The delivery model places voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations at the centre and is designed to reach men least likely to engage with conventional services by working in trusted local settings. This mirrors commitments in England’s men’s health strategy to collaborate with the VCSE sector to improve engagement and outcomes. (gov.uk)
Grant priorities highlighted by DHSC include support for new fathers, initiatives addressing loneliness and social isolation, activities to strengthen young men’s social connections and engagement with the health system, and services for men in work, out of work or moving into retirement. (gov.uk)
Evaluation will be funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to generate robust evidence on effectiveness and inform future policy and scaling. This aligns with NIHR’s Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams approach, which delivers timely, practice‑relevant evaluations for local authorities. (gov.uk)
The partnership sits within England’s first Men’s Health Strategy, published on 18 November 2025, which set out tailored healthcare for men and boys and a shift towards prevention and community‑based support. DHSC links today’s fund to the strategy’s evidence‑led implementation and its ambition to narrow stark health inequalities, including the gap in healthy life expectancy. (gov.uk)
Related commitments flagged alongside the strategy include up to £3.6 million over three years for neighbourhood‑based suicide‑prevention projects focused on middle‑aged men in higher‑risk localities, and the expansion of mental health teams in schools to reach an additional 900,000 pupils by April 2026. (gov.uk)
Partner organisations framed the fund as a mechanism to scale what already works locally and embed men‑responsive approaches within health systems. Movember emphasised taking support to the places men trust, while People’s Health Trust highlighted reaching men experiencing the sharpest health inequalities through organisations rooted in their communities. (gov.uk)
For commissioners, integrated care boards and VCSE providers, the programme signals opportunities for co‑designed interventions at key life stages and settings-workplaces, sports clubs and community hubs-underpinned by clear referral pathways with primary care and mental health services. Building evaluation into delivery from the outset will be essential to demonstrate reach, engagement and outcomes for under‑served groups.
DHSC’s announcement does not set application timelines or delivery geographies in the press material. The department indicates the partnership will identify effective approaches and share learning to enable expansion and replication where results are strongest, with further operational details to follow from delivery partners. (gov.uk)