Boosting confidence

In an area already facing multiple challenges, COVID-19 has seen a rise in poor mental health, particularly amongst unemployed men living in East Middlesbrough. However, feedback from the latest review of our Men Active Now (MAN) project, which ran from January 2021 to January 2022, showed that confidence levels had been impacted very positively, with an increase of 51%, simply by taking part in exercise and group activities.

We created the MAN project with the Amateur Boxing Club East Middlesbrough (ABCEM), along with funding from the Cleveland Police Crime and Commissioning Team (PCC), to tackle re-offending, make Cleveland safer and secure the future of the community.

The aim of the project was to use exercise and group activity to increase levels of optimism about the future, develop resilience to deal with problems and promote clear thinking and positivity in individuals. So, we have worked in partnership with the PCC and ABCEM to develop the project to promote training that improves physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing through personal and team challenges.

Due to this, we have seen optimism about the future in individuals increase from 30% at the beginning of the project to 70% at the end of it. This is a huge progression and shows just how physical exercise can have a positive impact on mental health. One participant even commented: “I feel happier and ready to for the next chapter.” Other individuals mentioned that “just being able to try something new and meet other men feeling like me has helped me”, showing that the group element to the project has been a real success and led to an increase of 45% in people feeling cheerful.

We fully believe in the power of supporting each other, which is why all activities are based in Thorntree and led by local qualified England boxing coach Laura Sergeant. Another participant said, "I like it because I didn't need to leave Thorntree as I get nervous" and “this kind of thing is good for our neighbourhood”, showing the importance of empowering local people to collaboratively shape their community.

Working with local organisations to support local people is at the centre of everything we do, so to find that one individual said, “I am now volunteering and love it”, shows how it can go full circle. We often work with people who started their CVL experience by seeking support, and we are proud of the hard work they put into their personal development. Ability to deal with problems also increased by 29% with clear thinking up by 42% too which has been a big part of enabling this sort of personal progression.

The final highlight from the report, shows that participants who felt good about themselves had increased by 46%, with comments like: "It’s been great getting out the house and doing something that's making me feel good about myself" and “I hope these groups keep going”. We are so happy to find such positive results and will be using them to develop the design of future courses and activities, led by CVL and our partners. We strive to make a difference because we believe everyone can make a valuable contribution to their community and we are here to support people to do that.