Chief Exec’s Update, May 2026

by
Shantinara Allard, Chief Executive of MensCraft

35 Bishopgate: A Centre of Excellence for Men and Boys

We are up and running at Bishopgate, where we are building a vision for a men-and-boys’ academy or guild – a learning environment that combines personal development, peer support, and practical skills. A place that takes men seriously and expects something of them in return.
 
Alongside this, we are building a bank of information and resources to support our work through our collaborations, for example with academia (we are an Associate Partner at UEA – see the video below), the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys in the UK, the all-party parliamentary group on Men and Boys’ Issues and the national Association on Male Wellbeing.

Knowing Yourself Matters Most

We are working to a principle that knowing yourself matters most. That’s where everything starts. Any change in attitude, behaviour, culture and contentment starts with us and our willingness to learn and evolve.
 
Our work is rooted in an informed understanding of healthy masculinity. We create spaces and meaningful activities where men and boys support and challenge each other – and where they actively and positively contribute to their communities as a result.
 
The men and boys who come to MensCraft are participants, not recipients. We each bring own experience, judgement and agency. We choose to come, and we get out of it what we put in. There are many ways to get involved, give back or contribute to what we do including working parties, community fundraising and assisting with peer support and group work.

Support comes in many forms

Let us know what you have to offer!

Get in touch

Strategy and planning

We have had a series of compelling discussions across the organisation looking at our plans for the rest of this decade! Headlines include: 

  1. Diversifying our income across grants, contracts, fees for services, and donations to ensure sustainability. We will grow our unrestricted income so we can respond and adapt when opportunities arise.

  2. Expand our reach. We will move from a “come to us” model to one where we meet men where they are – in partner settings, in communities, online. We will ensure our services reach men of all ages and backgrounds, including men who rarely come forward. We will grow our digital presence through storytelling, podcasts and social media.

  3. Strengthen our services in response to changing needs and wants.

  4. Become the go-to voice for men and boys’ issues in the area for media, government, and commissioners, male psychology being our core expertise.

  5. Invest in our team’s wellbeing, CPD, leadership and succession. We will develop accredited training. We will build capacity via a peer support and volunteering infrastructure that evolves participants into contributors.

MensNet

MensCraft provides the administration to MensNet – an opportunity to strengthen the local male health and wellbeing sector. MensNet brings together organisations and individuals working with men and boys to share knowledge, shape policy, influence funding, and speak with a collective voice – driving up standards, championing innovation, collating data and making sure the issues that matter to men and boys are heard in the right rooms and reflected in public conversation.
 
As a priority – and now that the dust has begun to settle across the new integrated health system across Norfolk and Suffolk – we are focussed on developing a local men’s strategy incorporating the issues important to the area. ​We are seeking the buy-in of health system stakeholders, considering how a local strategy relates to other local strategies, priorities and developments and looking to ensure it is hard-wired into new structures and plans – with accountability and clear progress and impact measures. Please get in touch if you want to know more.
 
The next MensNet meeting is planned for 10 June, 9.30-11.30 am at 35 Bishopgate Norwich NR1 4AA. Email [email protected] to register your interest.