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The Young Men Matter project, which is funded by the charity A Better Brighton and Hove, will focus especially on those men who have not been benefited by existing services in the city and explore models of working that may promote better engagement.

Young Men Matter runs for 18 months and will include a number of strands of research, including:

• Interviews with young men to assess their experiences and opinions.
• Interviews with, and examinations of, a range of services currently working with young men.
• Examination of existing data about engagement with young men and their potential feelings of ‘exclusion’ in society.
• Review of literature relevant to working with young men and also creative intervention models.

At the end of the project the researchers will share their recommendations and proposals – based on their findings – with the project’s stakeholders, with the aim of improving approaches to working with young men and improving their experience, thus meeting the needs of the local population.

The project’s work will be overseen and guided by a steering group that includes representatives of all stakeholders and will be advised by a young men’s reference group.

Cath Holmstrom, Deputy Head of the university’s School of Applied Social Science, is leading the research that also involves colleagues across a range of social science and education disciplines.

She said: “This is an opportunity for researchers to work together with community partners on a matter that is of shared concern, in order to effect real impact and change in the local area.

“Whilst there are many vulnerable groups within the local community, along with many strengths and opportunities, young men are the focus of this project because of a cluster of concerns about how to best engage with those most vulnerable to exploitation and/or antisocial behaviour.”

Cath and her colleagues will be recruiting peer researchers to help with some elements of the project.