A Band of Brothers is an award winning charity positively transforming the lives of young men and our communities. A Band of Brothers was born out of concern at the continuing escalation of self-destructive and anti-social behaviour among young men from every section of society, together with the realisation that any meaningful and sustainable solution entails the reclamation of shared local responsibility. What we do is establish a local community of connected, empathetic and skilled mentors. These mentors come from all walks of life and currently include local business men, tradesmen, film makers, an actor and a Chief Executive of a large public company. These mentors provide young men experiencing challenging life situations with coaching, challenge and a whole range of other support, both personal and practical to enable them to turn their lives around. We work in partnership with community leaders, local authorities, educationalists, health professionals and all service providers who are seeking an effective way to engage and marshal the energy of male youth.
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What makes us our approach different?
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One of the key ways in which we are different is that through creating and supporting contemporary rites of passage for adolescents we intend:
• to create community by engaging and training adult men to act as mentors and allies for local young men- thereby bridging the perilous divide that exists between generations of males
• that every adolescent will have the opportunity to be recognised, acknowledged and welcomed into adulthood through a community sponsored rites of passage experience
• to encourage a search for meaning and purpose in life based on the miracles of nature and humanity rather than adherence to any particular religion, thus enabling men from different backgrounds and creeds to connect in a meaningful way
• "Hurt people, hurt people." We address the hurt carried by men directly, so that they are less likely to hurt others. Cognitive training programmes can be very useful, but all of the employability training in the world cannot enable a young man with chronic anger or self esteem issues to get a job
• to recognise that the "problem" of young men not just a problem with young men but of the wider societal context of their lives
We have an ambitious vision. We want to create centres for working with men outside of urban areas where they can come to connect, to heal and to return from with renewed purpose and vigour. These centres, called "Axis Mundi," will provide an important antidote to the pressures and frequent toxicity of modern life. For more on our aims and ethos, go to http://www.abandofbrothers.org.uk/more-on-our-aims
