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More than 500 fathers in Lewisham and Southwark are set to receive practical parenting and family support through a £60,000 grant from the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

The funding will help the charity Future Men (futuremen.org) continue its Fathers’ Development Programme, which works with expectant fathers and those with children aged up to five. The focus is straightforward: helping men become more confident and involved parents, while addressing problems that can make that involvement difficult.

Those problems can be tricky and all-embracing. Many of the fathers referred to Future Men are young, unemployed, formerly in care or dealing with poor mental health, insecure housing or the criminal justice system. More than three-quarters are from ethnic minority backgrounds, while 68 per cent live in the most deprived parts of Lewisham and Southwark.

The programme combines individual mentoring, group sessions and community outreach.

Fathers may need advice about caring for a new baby, but the work often extends well beyond parenting classes. Practitioners also find themselves helping men navigate housing, employment and public services, advocate on their behalf and connect them with other fathers. Having a new child is always challenging, but dealing with life’s other issues is what can often be overwhelming.

Future Men describes its fatherhood provision as ranging from short courses for new and expectant dads to longer-term support for young fathers. Its “Start for Life” service in Lewisham and Southwark includes one-to-one support, information and advice for expectant fathers and male carers with very young children.

That flexibility matters because not every father arrives with the same needs, or indeed the same willingness to engage. Some attend a single information session. Others require consistent and supportive casework over a much longer period. The programme is designed to help men to develop trust without requiring them to commit immediately to an extensive course of support.

Owen Thomas, Future Men’s Head of Fathers’ Development, said the men reached by the programme are frequently “overlooked”. Supporting them to become more confident parents, he argues, has direct positive consequences for their children’s emotional, social and academic development. “This grant will make a real difference to families living in challenging circumstances,” he said, and will allow the charity to reach more fathers “at this critical time in their lives”.

Future Men has worked with boys, young men and fathers since 1988. It is one of relatively few UK charities specialising in this area, delivering school programmes, community mentoring, fatherhood services and policy work. Its wider approach is based on what it calls positive masculinity, defined through characteristics including resilience, empathy, reflectiveness, resourcefulness and non-violence.

The fatherhood programme forms one part of that broader work. Future Men’s latest impact report says its services supported 383 fathers across five London boroughs during 2024/25, generating nearly 900 individual contacts. This included support through its Future Dads, Start for Life, Young Fathers and Reducing Parental Conflict programmes. Reported outcomes included greater parenting confidence, improved co-parenting relationships and better engagement with employment.

The charity also works closely with professionals who encounter fathers through other services. It has established referral routes with social care, Early Help, youth offending teams and NHS maternity services. During 2024/25, its team delivered 236 events involving 1,360 professionals from statutory organisations.

Its work also extends into policy. Fathers using the service contribute through a Fathers Forum, the London-wide Young Dads Council and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood. Future Men says this enables men with direct experience of the system to influence both local services and wider discussion about fatherhood.

Parenting advice cannot always be separated from housing, employment, mental health or family conflict. Future Men’s model attempts to deal with those issues together rather than referring fathers repeatedly between disconnected services.

Will Clayton of London Freemasons says the grant will help fathers of young children “play a positive role in their children’s upbringing”. He points to the evidence that children benefit from having engaged fathers and says Future Men is already putting that principle into practice with hundreds of families across South London. The £60,000 award will allow that work to continue at greater scale.

This article is part of Arena Magazine Issue 61 – Summer 2026.
Arena Magazine is the official online magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in Arena Issue 61 here.

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