The Future Is Everyone: But Who is Raising our Boys?

Fourteen men take their own lives every day in the UK.

Boys are one and a half times more likely to be suspended from school than girls, and more than twice as likely to be permanently excluded. Almost eight in ten say they have no clear idea what it means to be a man today.

For a growing number of boys, the answer is coming from a screen. An algorithm. A stranger in a comment section telling them who to blame and who to become. For others it's a teacher who has run out of patience, a system that was never built with them in mind, or nobody at all. And for some, it's still a father, a coach, a mentor. A man who turned up, and kept turning up.

This International Men's Day, Future Men is coming back to QPR to put that question to a room full of people who can actually answer it: who is raising our boys?

Last year we started a conversation. This year we follow it all the way through, from the classroom to the changing room to the family home, with the people doing the work and the evidence to prove it.

What the day looks like

Ademola Adeyeba, founder of 1000 Black Boys and Chair of Black Men for Change, opens the day with the question at the heart of it all- ‘who is raising our boys?’.

Pablo Blackwood, Race and Ethnicity Lead at QPR, explores what football has taught him about identity and belonging, and what happens to a boy who never finds somewhere he belongs.

Future Men's Chris Stein and Ann Cayenne lead a hands on workshop built from years of running our Boys Development Programme in London schools, sharing fresh findings from our independently evaluated randomised controlled trial, funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, on what actually changes a boy's path.

Leon Thompson shares his short film, My Own Worst Enemy, a raw look at fatherhood, healing and family.

Sixteen year old writer and commentator Josh Sargent, who encountered the manosphere himself as a young teenager, asks the question most people avoid. Not whether online role models are good or bad, but what they're giving boys that the rest of us aren't.

Professor Anna Tarrant, from the University of Lincoln's Centre for Innovation in Fatherhood and Family Research, and Future Men's Owen Thomas close the day with the evidence on what makes fathers truly present, and a workshop on building services that include fathers, not just mothers.

The day ends with a panel bringing every voice together to talk about what happens next.

Why this matters

This is not a day of disconnected talks. It's one question, followed honestly all the way through, with real acknowledgement of where we're failing boys and real clarity about what to do instead. Expect honest stories, not polished speeches. Evidence, not guesswork. And people in the room who are already doing something about it.

Who it's for

Teachers, social workers, youth workers, community organisers, employers, health professionals, policymakers, business leaders. Anyone who cares what happens to the next generation of men and boys. You don't need to be an expert. You need to show up.

Why QPR

Because sport is one of the few places boys and men already gather. Because a stadium seats thousands of people who all belong to the same story. Future Men has spent more than 35 years walking alongside boys and men through school exclusion, family breakdown and first time fatherhood. We know what happens when nobody shows up. We're asking you to be the one who does.

Join us. Bring your colleagues. Help us prove that the future really is everyone.

Watch a short video with highlights from our event last year:

Info: Football is more than a game. For many men and boys, it can be a place where identity is formed, community is found and a sense of belonging is created.
In this keynote, Pablo Blackwood DL explores the powerful relationship between football, identity and belonging, reflecting on how the game can shape the way men see themselves and others. Drawing on his experiences within football and his work around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Pablo will consider what it means to feel that you belong — and what happens when you don't.
The session will explore the role football can play in creating spaces where men and boys can express themselves, build connections and feel seen, while challenging some of the assumptions about masculinity, identity and belonging that can hold people back.

Info: In this interactive workshop, Future Men's Schools Team will explore some of the key challenges facing boys in education and share what we have learned from delivering the Boys Development Programme in schools across London. Drawing on our experience of supporting boys through conversations about masculinity, communication and conflict, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on the barriers to engagement, belonging and positive outcomes that many boys face. We will demonstrate how relationship-based approaches can build trust, strengthen engagement and create the conditions for change. We will also share insights from our recent randomised controlled trial, highlighting the growing evidence base behind this work, before opening the session to questions about how schools, funders and partners can work together to better support boys to succeed in education and beyond.

Info: For a generation of boys, some of the most influential lessons about masculinity, success, relationships and identity are no longer coming primarily from parents, schools or traditional institutions. They’re coming from influencers, algorithms and online communities.
Drawing on his own experience of encountering the manosphere as a young teenager, Josh Sargent explores why these figures can become such powerful role models for boys searching for belonging, purpose and guidance. He looks beyond the question of whether particular influencers are “good” or “bad” to ask something more important: what are they offering young men that the rest of society often isn’t?
From money and status to body image, relationships and masculinity, Josh examines the pressures shaping boys online and argues that simply condemning the wrong role models is not enough. If we want boys to choose better ones, we need to understand why they were looking for them in the first place.

Info: Anna shares the latest evidence about what it means for fathers to be present, recognised and meaningfully included in their children’s lives. Drawing on over a decade of research with fathers, families and professionals, including young fathers, she will consider the gap between encouraging fathers to be involved and creating the conditions that enable their involvement. She explores how services and systems can inadvertently overlook fathers, why recognition matters for children and families, and what research tells us about what actually works. The keynote will conclude with practical principles for moving beyond engagement towards sustained father-inclusion across policy, services and everyday practice.

Info: Refreshments will be served during this workshop

Event venue & nearby stays

Queens Park Rangers Football Club, South Africa Road, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

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