Young men's project: Great Yarmouth, UK

The Young Men's Project has been working with young men and young fathers as part of Great Yarmouth Primary Care Trust in the UK since June 2001. The Project works in schools and other educational environments to promote positive personal development, particularly around sex and relationships, and to increase accessibility of sexual health and contraceptive services, and support for young fathers. Young men generally want to look after themselves and to act responsibly in sexual relationships. Knowledge through education and appreciation of how to understand and express themselves as men are crucial. If they are likely to engage in penetrative sex, then being able to access condoms and use them correctly for every sexual encounter is next. Culturally, we set low expectations of young men when it comes to sexual health and taking responsibility. The same is true of our expectations of young fathers. This is not due to their lack of desire to be involved. Our work challenges the much repeated notion that young men are a hard-to-reach group, which throws the responsibility onto them. I believe we should recognise that we, and the services we provide, have been failing to meet their needs.