We're reflecting on the achievements of the Men's Minds Matter project, and the impact of their work on men in Northern Ireland.
As a funder, we have to acknowledge that things don’t always go to plan. Rolling with uncertainty, providing flexibility and appreciating the multi-layered challenges faced by people working directly in communities have been core to the way we’ve approached The Ideas Fund.
We know that at the moment things in the charity sector are very tough indeed, and it's with great sadness that we learned that one of our fantastic Ideas Fund partners, Parenting Focus, had taken the decision to close the charity from the end of September 2025.
It will be an incredible loss to the community in Northern Ireland, not least to the many men who have been developing groundbreaking work on men’s wellbeing over the last few years as part of their Men’s Minds Matter project.
However, in this moment of sadness we also wanted to celebrate everything they achieved.
Cahir and Muriel at Parenting Focus, along with their researcher partner Alison, have stewarded the project with care, compassion and dedication and we’ve been privileged to invest in the work and their learning over the last few years.
What was funded?
Parenting Focus (formerly Parenting NI) have been funded by The Ideas Fund since our first round in 2021. Their aim was to explore opportunities for men to learn how to give and receive support around mental wellbeing, driven by a deep commitment to co-design the work with them. Their ideas led to the creation of running groups, the men’s cafe and The Empathy Tent - all spaces where men could come and talk with each other and which have had a profound impact for many of the people involved.
They have also been focused on how to change the approach of health and social services to men’s wellbeing, creating links with local practitioners to increase their awareness and knowledge of work with men.
It became clear that engaging with men requires different thinking, different knowledge and awareness from engaging with women
What did we learn?
The relationship between community practitioner and researcher was central to their project, like so many of our Ideas Fund projects. Alongside Cahir’s skilled development work, the researcher Alison was focused on listening, writing it down and putting their experiences out into the world. Through this partnership, they’ve captured learning across the whole journey – demonstrating the importance of men’s work and what’s possible when men create their own solutions.
Legacy learning report
In the final stage of their work they have written a legacy report, bringing together everything they’ve learned, with some hopes for the future of men’s work.
Read the reportThe project has shown that when men are supported to invest in their own wellbeing, the positive impact extends to their children, families, and wider communities
What happens next?
Parenting Focus have explored ways in which their learning can be shared with others, and how strands of their work can be adopted by programmes run by other organisations.
We wish everyone the very best for the future, and thank them all for being such great partners.