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The £3.9 million fund will use the power of sport and mentorship to engage boys and young men to help them challenge harmful norms and behaviours as violence against women and girls reaches epidemic levels in the UK
Innovative pilot funding programme encourages organisations to use approaches that champion sport and physical activity to help tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls to build a safer future and foster healthier relationships
PSG goalkeeper and former England Lioness, Mary Earps, fronts powerful short film. Available to watch here(opens in new window)
The five-year programme will support seven organisations in London and the West Midlands that use a sport for change approach to tackle the root causes of gender-based violence including football, cricket, and netball
Comic Relief has funded organisations that help women and girls live free from violence for over 25 years
The charity is hoping to engage new partners to support this work and inspire collective action to tackle the epidemic
For more information on Comic Relief funding visit www.comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
29 September 2025: Comic Relief has today announced a new multi-million pound UK funding programme that will use the power of sport and mentorship to promote positive masculinity, healthier relationships and gender equality among boys and young men. Backed by former Lioness Mary Earps, the initiative will help challenge harmful norms and behaviours including toxic masculinity, misogyny and coercion.
The fund announcement follows a summer of widespread, important conversation about the urgent need to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls, sparked by the extraordinary global reaction to Netflix’s Emmy award-winning Adolescence.
Over two million women in the UK are estimated to be affected by male violence each year (1). Recently declared a national emergency (2), the epidemic of violence demands new, bold solutions and early engagement with boys and young men to create a better society where violence against women and girls is unthinkable.
The new £3.9 million, five-year programme will support seven specialist community-led organisations across London and the West Midlands. Organisations will use sports and physical activity like football, cricket and netball, to help implement early interventions that encourage boys and young men to become role models and leaders while also championing a culture of respect and healthy masculinity. Participants will also take part in tailored education, mentoring and peer-led sessions to build skills that can be used to challenge harmful norms and behaviours that drive violence against women and girls in their own communities.
Comic Relief is proud to be stepping up and taking an innovative approach by uniting its long-standing commitment to gender justice, with over 25 years funding experience, and with its proven expertise as one of the UK’s leading Sport for Change funders having funded over 500 projects over the last two decades.
The organisations that are part of this new programme are:
Beyond Equality (opens in new window)(London / West Midlands) - working with men and boys, the UK leading gender-transformative charity will use group workshops to rethink masculinities, promote gender justice, and build safer, more inclusive communities. They will deploy classroom and on-pitch learning programmes across 11 English Football League (EFL) football clubs
Birmingham and Solihull Women's Aid(opens in new window) (Birmingham / Solihull) - partnering with Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, the charity will use cricket to promote healthy relationships and gender equality, and continue to support women and children affected by domestic abuse
The Change Foundation(opens in new window) (London / West Midlands) - sport and mentoring will be used to support marginalised young people, focusing on health, skills, and employment to improve their futures
Fight for Peace (opens in new window)(London) - will deliver early intervention programmes that combine boxing and martial arts, mentoring, and a personal development curriculum to challenge harmful norms and build their confidence
Football Beyond Borders(opens in new window) (London / West Midlands) - will support disengaged young people through a football-themed social and emotional learning curriculum, to promote healthy masculinities and tackle gender-based violence across 60+ schools in the area
Respect (opens in new window)(London) - using sport as a hook, the charity trains coaches and youth workers to deliver Dating Detox, an 11-session programme that helps boys aged 11-18 to understand respect, consent, and boundaries
Roshni (opens in new window)(Birmingham) - will support Black and minoritised women and young people affected by VAWG through trauma-informed, multilingual services, including refuge, advocacy, and outreach
To help shine a light on this important issue, Comic Relief has teamed up with Lioness legend and current PSG goalkeeper, Mary Earps, who supports the urgent need for more funding in this area.
Mary Earps said: “Violence against women and girls is an epidemic – harassment, toxic masculinity, misogyny, coercion, anxiety, fear, it keeps growing. I’ve been playing sport my whole life, and I know that from the pitch to the playground, sport has the unique ability to bring people together. Comic Relief is using the power of sport to reach young boys, to support and educate them, and build allies to challenge harmful behaviour. This work will create strong role models in our communities, promote healthy attitudes, and build a safer world for women and girls so everyone can thrive."
With 3,000 recorded offences of violence every day – a 37% increase in the past 5 years (3) – there has never been a more pressing need for intervention and support.
Samir Patel, CEO at Comic Relief, said: “Toxic masculinity, misogyny and violence against women and girls have been at the forefront of public debate this year, in part due to the huge success of Netflix’s Adolescence, which has shown the powerful role pop culture can play in bringing attention to the most pressing issues we face today.
“With violence against women and girls at crisis levels in the UK, and public concern at an all-time high, we are proud to launch our first ever programme that uses sport and education to work with boys and girls in their formative years, to promote healthier relationships, positive masculinity and gender equality.
“By bringing together young people, teachers, community leaders and role models, we aim build a future where girls and women feel safer, and where boys and men are supported to be part of the change."
Richie Etherington-Benson, Sports Project Manager, Beyond Equality, said: "We are thrilled to receive this support, which will allow us to build on our Sport for Change work with boys and young men while also creating space to develop and test new approaches we’ve never had the capacity to explore before. Beyond Equality has its roots in sport, and we know how powerful it can be in shaping identity, connection, and community. This funding comes at a crucial time, as boys and young men are facing growing challenges around mental health, wellbeing, and misogyny. With this backing, we can reach young people where they are — and harness the power of sport to drive lasting social change."
Surwat Sohail, CEO of Roshni Birmingham, said: “As a led by and for a specialist organisation we are delighted to receive funding from Comic Relief to tackle harmful norms and practices through sport. Working with young people to challenge misogyny is vital in ending violence against women and girls, and this support will enable us to use the power of sport to break down harmful attitudes, create safe spaces, and inspire lasting change. Together, we can empower communities to stand up for equality, respect, and a future free from violence."
For more information and to find out how to support Comic Relief’s vision of tackling violence against women and girls in the future, visit comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
ENDS
ASSETS AVAILABLE
Photos: https://dam.gettyimages.com/s/5fvtcv9wnr7w9w3b32rng(opens in new window)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipwkm3COaqE(opens in new window)
Additional quotes:
(London) Lee Hemmings, CEO of Fight For Peace, said: “We are acutely aware of the need for this programme through our day-to-day activities. We now have the opportunity to build on our unique position, develop a true area of expertise, and share it with our Comic Relief partners. This is an opportunity for us to build genuine strengths together."
(London / West Midlands) Lee Parker, Head of External Relations of Football Beyond Borders, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Comic Relief on this five-year investment to tackle harmful norms and reduce violence against women and girls. Too often, the focus is only on supporting women and girls after harm has taken place. Our role is to work with young people early, building consistent relationships that challenge toxic ideas of masculinity and create the conditions for women and girls to feel safe and fully included in every space."
(London) Justine Dodds, Head of the Respect Young People’s Service, said: “We are delighted and thankful to Comic Relief for this award. The funding will support work in the West Midlands to promote gender equality and challenge harmful behaviour that can become normalised among children and young people.
“Through prevention work based on the Sport for Change approach, we will bring our experience of working with young people to develop partnerships with local grassroots organisations to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls.
“Respect is looking forward to collaborating with our colleagues in the West Midlands to deliver the pilot."
(London / West Midlands) Navjeet Sira, CEO, The Change Foundation, said: “We know from decades of listening to young people that the values you form in adolescence shape how you treat others for the rest of your life. If we learn how to develop values equally, we have a greater chance of treating one another equally. Game of Life uses the power of sport and immersive education right at that critical stage of development, giving young people the chance to practice respect, equality and consent in real-life scenarios. At its heart, this project is about tackling the harmful norms that drive violence against women and girls, and in doing so, laying the foundations for a more equal, less violent future for all genders."
Footnotes:
1 - The National Police Chiefs’ Council(opens in new window). July 2024
2 - Hansard(opens in new window). January 2025
3 – The National Police Chiefs’ Council(opens in new window). July 2024
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
0207 820 2500
Media@comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
www.comicrelief.com/media-centre
Out of hours enquiries: 0207 820 2444
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.
Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.6 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners.
For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com(opens in new window) or follow @comicrelief on X(opens in new window) (formerly Twitter), Facebook(opens in new window), Instagram(opens in new window), LinkedIn(opens in new window) and TikTok(opens in new window) for the latest content and news.
Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).
