Posted 21 February 2025

Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) recently launched the West Yorkshire Boys’ Impact Hub, our region’s delegation of the national Boys’ Impact initiative. 

For the last three years, we have hosted a network for Higher Education (HE) providers, to explore the issues faced by young men in our region in accessing HE study. Informed by the national priority of supporting White Disadvantaged Males, we began as a network with this specific set of the target group as our focus. However, under the leadership of myself and founding co-chair, Jonathan Holland (Leeds Beckett University), we broadened the network’s scope to include young men of all ethnicities. 

In becoming the Males on Free School Meals network, we recognised that the impact of socio-economic disadvantage isn’t hindered by race. The average Attainment 8 score for young men of all ethnicities receiving free school meals across all West Yorkshire local authorities is significantly lower than their peers.  

Guiding principles

At the launch event on 10 February 2025, I set out our three guiding principles: 

• We will recognise the primacy of young men’s voices in our work. All young men eligible for free school meals or from West Yorkshire regions defined as ‘least advantaged’ are welcome.

• We will influence influencers to empower the broadest cohort of young men in our region and support systemic change across education settings. 

• We will respond and contribute to the work of the national Boys’ Impact Hubs collective whilst retaining a strong place-based approach. 

The West Yorkshire Boys’ Impact hub will now also welcome members from a diverse range of organisations in addition to our HE members. Our goal is to join the dots between research and theory and the experiences of practitioners working directly with young men.   

I’m very much looking forward to continuing to develop the West Yorkshire Hub and collaborating with our members.  

Take a look at GHWY’s resources for supporting disadvantaged young men. 

Get involved 

We’re still looking to grow our hub and are seeking representation from school leaders, third sector and charity organisations particularly. You can get in touch using this form. 

Boys’ Impact 

Boys’ Impact was founded in 2023 by Dr Alex Blower, a Research Fellow at Arts University Bournemouth, with the aim to create research and influence practice around working with young men. Their approach is rooted in the principles of relational education developed by the Taking Boys Seriously research team at Ulster University.  

Boys’ Impact began with the Dorset Boys’ Impact hub and in the space of two years has grown to 13 regional hubs across the UK, each with its own approach and identity but all united in using the Taking Boys Seriously principles and a shared desire to improve the life outcomes for young men in our regions.  

Explore more about Boys’ Impact on their website. 

Taking Boys’ Seriously 

Taking Boys’ Seriously began in 2006, funded by the departments of Education and Justice in Northern Ireland, and was subsequently reinvested in by Ulster University. The project developed a set of ten principles, rooted in relational education and adopting a strengths-based approach to working with young men across both formal and informal education settings and in communities.  

Find out more about the Taking Boys Seriously principles. 

 

James Rew, Leeds Conservatoire, Access and Participation Manager & Chair of the West Yorkshire Boys’ Impact Hub