This year, International Men’s Day is held on Sunday 19th November 2023.

Many organisations and people hold events and activities in the week before and the week after, especially if it falls on a weekend like this year (generic undated IMD images can be found in the images section). Please do not be constrained by the day of the week.

The UK themes for the Day which are used every year and help maximise participation are:

• Making a positive difference to the wellbeing and lives of men and boys
• Raising awareness and/or funds for charities supporting men and boys’ wellbeing
• Promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity

These overarching themes provide a framework to help organisations think about what specific theme they want to use for their particular event and activity which is applicable to them.  It is a perfect way for employers/organisations to display their Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) credentials. We keep it general because people/organisations have told us they do not want to be constrained  by one specific theme on one specific topic.

Many adapt/convert the above to a theme/message/slogan that suits their organisation or campaign. For example, some use:

• general messaging (“supporting men and boys” “Helping men and boys’ wellbeing” “we take men who contact us seriously”)
• allyship (“supporting our male employees/colleagues/workers” and potentially insert examples like “…with their mental health, to see a GP etc”)
• mental health (“improving men’s mental health” or “It’s OK to talk” or “It’s good to talk” or “I/We are here to listen”)
• health (“better men’s health”or “better health for men and boys” or “get yourself checked” or “remember to check your self for xyz)
• community (“supporting men in our community” or “celebrating the difference men and boys make to our community/school/business/sports team/lives/families/women and girls)
• togetherness (“looking out for our mates”  or “making time for old mates” or making time to make new mates” or “reaching out to mates who are finding it tough”)
• learning events (“learn about male victims of domestic abuse / sexual violence / prostate cancer)
•  promote services (please call our/their helpline / visit our service),
• father/dad events (“supporting new dads” “dads of the year/hero dads”  or “involving fathers in pregnancy”)
• others run events fundraising for a male charity (“raise funds for x” – see our charity list) whilst others hold “your most inspirational man” or “help boys get reading” campaigns.

With over 600 organisations taking part every year in the UK, it is impossible (and is not inclusive) to be prescriptive and tell organisations large and small what they should do. Hence why the overarching themes to help guide everyone.

We also have an Employers Guide too.

These themes are are also designed to help more organisations and people consider what action they can take by addressing some of the issues that affect Men and Boys such as:

• The high male suicide rate
• The challenges faced by boys and men at all stages of education and work including attainment, re-training, stress, redundancy and unemployment
• Men’s health (including male cancers), shorter life expectancy, body image and workplace deaths – plus the health impact of Covid-19
• The challenges faced by the most marginalised men and boys in society – for instance, homeless men, boys in care, school excluded boys and the high rate of male deaths in custody
• Male victims of violence and crime – for instance, bullying, sexual violence, gang violence, and, those coerced into county lines and other criminal activity
• The challenges faced by men as parents, particularly new fathers and separated fathers
• Male victims and survivors of sexual abuse, rape, sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based crime, stalking. online image-abuse, sextortion and modern slavery
• The negative portrayal of men, boys and fathers

Some ideas on what you can do, can be found on this page: How to Mark International Men’s Day 2023

To see who did what in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018, please go to the events page and scroll backwards (see previous events) plus in 2022 and 2021 these are that were involved, please click on any links and see what they did!.

We have suggested some men and boys’ charities you could support. 

And remember if you are holding an event, please tell us at contact@ukmensday.org.uk so we can list it on our events page .

Please feel free to use the UK IMD logos and other backgrounds for all of your publicity material available to download through this link.

Thank you for your support.

If you need anymore information, please contact us.

Please do also use social media (#internationalmensday):

Twitter:  @UKMensDay and #internationalmensday

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalMensDayUk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/international-mens-day-uk/