Fight for Peace is excited to announce its collaboration with the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) on the week-long Team Up Campaign. This campaign is dedicated to showing the nation how sports organisations and clubs can tackle male isolation and transform young men’s wellbeing.
The campaign’s tag line ‘everyone deserves a team behind them,’ reflects a philosophy Fight for Peace knows all too well, as we see every week the powerful way sport supports physical and mental health, while building somewhere to belong.
Yet, what’s unique about our approach is that we combine combat sport sessions with mentoring and group personal development. This forms part of our Five Pillar methodology, alongside youth leadership, educational support and employability opportunities.
To amplify our impact and reach as many young people as possible, we share this approach widely with Sport England System Partners and our national Alliance network. This includes our Life Champions approach which supports coaches to be mentors for young people, and has reached over 400 sports coaches nationwide.
The result is more community spaces for young men where they build stronger minds and bodies, access opportunities, grow connections, and are truly seen and heard.
Joining the likes of Premier League, Rugby League Cares, and Movember, Fight for Peace is taking part in the campaign with a special event dedicated to spotlighting the services we deliver every week.
At our Academy in east London, we deliver a weekly male-only personal development group called Man Talk. This is a safe and supportive space for all young men to share their experiences, listen to others, offer advice, and discuss challenges.
For the Team Up campaign, we’re holding a ‘Mega’ Man Talk event to encourage as many young male members at Fight for Peace to join the conversation and challenge the stigma around male loneliness.
Following the Man Talk session, we’ll be holding a big mixed boxing session, with beginners, intermediates, and competitors training in the same space as we strip away the titles to unite as a community. Led by Coach Michael and Youth Mentor Jason, this is sure to be an evening to remember.
As Fight for Peace CEO Lee Hemmings shared: “Joining the Team Up Campaign is a brilliant opportunity for us to show how incredible the combination of sports and personal development is for all young men’s wellbeing. With a team of trusted adults behind them, this blend forges friendships, builds life skills, embraces community and lets the young men in our society know they are not alone.”
The Team Up campaign is backed by recent data from Sport England’s Active Lives Survey (2025) and DCMS’ Community Life Survey (2025) that indicates approximately 1 in 4 young boys aged between 11-24 feel lonely sometimes, always, or often.
This is a sobering reminder that while young men and boys may be more digitally connected than ever, they remain vulnerable to isolation and loneliness. Team Up week has put a vital spotlight on the power of sport, but the work continues long after the lights go down.
We’re here year round, proving that when young people have a place to belong, they do more than just show up – they thrive. Find out more about Fight for Peace here: https://fightforpeace.net/
Over the course of the Team Up week, sports clubs and organisations from all over the nation will be jumping on the initiative to spotlight local services available. All details are available on the Team Up website.
