Fight for Peace is proud to announce a new partnership with Movember as part of the Young Men and Media Collective (YMMC) – a global initiative bringing together organisations, creators and communities to help build healthier, more positive conversations about masculinity online.

As one of nine funded projects in Movember’s first ‘test and learn’ cohort, Fight for Peace will produce a youth-led, six-episode podcast series bringing young people, youth workers, combat sports athletes and men’s wellbeing experts together for honest conversations about what it means to be a man.

Produced by Fight for Peace Young Creative Aladdin Benberna, the podcast will explore themes that are too often left out of the conversation – from rejection and failure to mental health, body image, social media pressures, relationships and resilience. By sharing authentic stories and lived experiences, the series will offer an alternative to the unrealistic “relentlessly rich and ripped” ideals that many young men encounter online every day.

At Fight for Peace, we see first-hand the pressures young men and boys face. Social media is filled with voices claiming to have the blueprint for success, often measuring worth by appearance, wealth or dominance. For many young people, these messages can feel impossible to live up to.

At our Academy in Newham, we have gained over 20 years’ experience using boxing and martial arts combined with personal development to help young people become champions in the ring and champions in life. We’ve learned that lasting change happens when young people have trusted adults, supportive peers and safe spaces where they can speak openly without fear of judgement.

One of those spaces is Man Talk – our male-focused personal development programme providing a consistent, non-judgemental environment where young men can build trusted relationships, develop confidence and explore the issues affecting their lives. 

This new podcast is a natural extension of that work, taking the conversations beyond our Academy in east London to reach young people across the UK and beyond, as well as the parents, carers, coaches, teachers and youth workers who support them every day.

“Every week in Man Talk I see what happens when young men are given the chance to speak openly without feeling judged. Young men want these conversations – they just need spaces where they feel safe enough to have them. Now we have the chance to reach far more young people through our approach,” shared Jason, Fight for Peace’s Man Talk Lead and Youth Worker.

The lessons we see every day in boxing and martial arts go far beyond the gym. They teach discipline, respect, resilience and how to learn from setbacks – qualities that challenge many of the harmful ideas about masculinity promoted online. 

Throughout the series, athletes and wellbeing professionals will share not just their achievements, but the failures, doubts and lessons that shaped them, showing that strength isn’t about having all the answers, it’s about having the courage to keep learning, growing and supporting others.

Fight for Peace is one of nine projects selected by Movember, joining creators, journalists and organisations working across sport, gaming, construction, poetry, filmmaking and digital storytelling. Together, the cohort will test bold, creative ways to help young men encounter healthier, more diverse representations of masculinity online. The insights from these projects will help shape future approaches to supporting young men’s wellbeing in digital spaces.

This partnership isn’t about telling young men who they should be. It’s about creating more space for honesty, vulnerability, resilience and connection. By amplifying authentic voices and creating conversations that young people can genuinely relate to, we hope to inspire healthier ideas about success, wellbeing and what it means to be a man – both online, in our communities, and beyond.

Fight for Peace is proud to be part of this movement alongside Movember and look forward to sharing the Man Talk podcast later this year. Find out more about the Young Men and Media Collective and the other funded projects on Movember’s website. 

Contact Fight for Peace’s Media and Communications Operations Manager, Kayla, to find out how to get involved: kayla@fightforpeace.net.