The statistics are damning: one in five boys are likely to experience depression or anxiety before they turn 18, suicide is the leading cause of death for young men under the age of 25, and over 90% of sexual abuse and 95% of family violence is committed by men. Supporting boys, specifically, to develop a positive and healthy identity not only improves their mental health and helps them as they grow into men, it improves the quality of life of every member of the community. The research shows that young men are more likely to benefit from programs and settings that are familiar, male-friendly and non-judgmental. Focussing on boys’ strengths rather than their deficits is a pillar of The Man Cave’s work.

We firmly believe that programs that empower girls and young women are extremely important and best led by those who identify as women. If your school or community group would like a recommendation of a program to run simultaneously with The Man Cave, ask us to connect you with one of the incredible organisations currently supporting young women.

All facilitators must maintain a current Working With Children Check at all times during their employment. All facilitators must attend Child Safety Training program at least once per year, facilitated by a body independent of Man Cave. All facilitators have also all completed the Berry Street trauma-informed practice training and youth mental health first aid training. Finally, it is mandatory that a teacher with the relevant State-based accreditations be present in our programs at all times.

Our facilitators are not necessarily psychologists or counsellors. They do not provide professional mental health advice or diagnoses to participants during or after our programs. Rather, they are experts in youth work and facilitation. Our Heads of Training, as well as our CEO and Head of Culture, have more than 50 years of facilitation experience between them, delivering programs to hundreds of thousands of young people around the world.

Coming from diverse personal and professional backgrounds – including teaching, coaching, psychology, facilitation and consulting – our facilitators represent a wide spectrum of the Australian masculine experience. This makes them uniquely placed to provide the necessary empathy, understanding, and connections to engage with workshop participants.

Additionally, every facilitator holds a valid Working With Children Check and most of our facilitators are accredited in Youth Mental Health First Aid. As an integral part of our programs, when appropriate, our facilitators will refer students, teachers, and community members to a wide range of free, 24/7, mental health services. We also work in close partnership with relevant wellbeing and student services that may be available in a given school or community.

Our Code of Conduct and Child Safety Policy clearly outline the child safety standards by which we hold all of The Man Cave staff and facilitators. If you suspect that any of our staff or facilitators has breached the Code or our Child Safety Policy within one of our programs, please contact our Child Safety Officer and Head of Operations, Claudia Fatone, at claudia@themancave.life or in her absence, our Operations Manager, Daniel Datnow-Jamieson, at daniel@themancave.life For a complete statement of commitment to child safety, please visit https://themancave.life/policies

But to meet the growing demand for our services, and depending on availability, we are always interested in taking our message of changing the conversation around masculinity and young men further afield. We are also proud of our strong international reputation for delivering powerful keynote presentations and panel discussions and will consider these on a case-by-case basis.

If a boy or young man you know would benefit from private counselling or therapy or needs extra support, there are some useful resources for mental health support services (here).

Also, the “Check In App” (which you can find on Google play of the App Store) is a helpful resource created by BeyondBlue that gives simple and practical tools to support friends and family during difficult times.

We work with young men aged between 12 and 18, meaning the majority of our school-based programs are with students in the early-to-mid high school years (7-10) and occasionally in upper high school (11-12).