On 19 November 2025, United Youth Alliance brought together young people, youth workers, educators, practitioners and organisations from across the Fylde Coast and beyond for our seventh What About the Boys? conference.
Held at the Village Hotel Blackpool, the day created space for honest conversations about the experiences of boys and young men today, while challenging professionals to think differently about how we listen, respond and work together.
More than 120 delegates joined us from a wide range of organisations, with discussions exploring some of the issues young men themselves and those working alongside them have told us matter most: mental health, masculinity and identity, education, crime and violence, racism, neurodiversity, relationships, social media and access to positive opportunities and role models.
But What About the Boys? has never simply been about talking about young men. It is about creating opportunities for their voices and experiences to shape what happens next.
Shaped by young people
Young people played an important role in shaping the themes and conversations throughout the conference through UYA’s Coast of Social Action work.
Alongside the professional conference, young men from across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre took part in a dedicated Young Men’s Hackathon, giving them the opportunity to explore the challenges affecting young people locally, learn more about the support available to them and share their own experiences and ideas.
Through activities including Sam’s Journey, young people explored how factors such as where someone grows up, the support around them and the challenges they encounter can influence their lives.
Their reflections included a greater understanding of where to go for help, what support is available and how similar challenges can affect young people regardless of their individual circumstances.
Challenging practice and sharing ideas
Throughout the conference, delegates took part in workshops led by practitioners and specialists from across the country.
Sessions explored issues including racism and its impact on Black and Brown young men, neurodiversity, chemsex and young people, positive masculinity, and the relationship between social media and violence.
The workshops were intentionally designed to move beyond simply identifying problems. They encouraged delegates to challenge assumptions, consider their own practice and take practical ideas back into schools, youth organisations and communities.
One delegate reflected on the importance of responding to neurodivergent young people with curiosity and empathy rather than allowing behaviours to create negative labels or narratives.
Others highlighted the importance of celebrating positive examples of masculinity, understanding how being male intersects with other parts of a young person’s identity and ensuring boys and young men continue to have a place within voluntary and community services.
More than 1,500 years of experience in one room
Following the morning workshops, Dr Rajesh Patel led a round-table discussion exploring what practitioners need to better support boys and young men.
Collectively, those in the room represented more than 1,500 years of experience across youth and community work, with practitioners attending from across the North West and from as far afield as Scotland and London.
The discussion highlighted both the enormous amount of knowledge already within the youth and community sector and some of the barriers professionals continue to face.
Delegates identified the need for more specialist training, stronger resources for the voluntary and community sector and greater opportunities for practitioners to network, share knowledge and develop responses to emerging issues affecting boys and young men.
That collaboration is one of the things What About the Boys? was created to make possible.
Building the Fylde Coast Boys Impact Hub
The conversations started at the conference are intended to lead to action.
UYA is now developing the Fylde Coast Boys Impact Hub, creating a space for organisations, practitioners and communities to work collectively on improving outcomes for boys and young men across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.
The approach builds on emerging evidence from Boys’ Impact and its work with United Learning, which has demonstrated the potential of early, preventative and relationship-centred approaches to improve attendance, behaviour, engagement and emotional wellbeing amongst disadvantaged boys.
The Fylde Coast Hub will give local partners the opportunity to help co-create what that approach should look like in our own communities.
Young men as part of the solution
Our work with boys and young men also connects directly with UYA’s commitment to ending Violence Against Women and Girls.
During the 16 Days of Activism, UYA staff and young people took part in activities including Blackpool’s Reclaim the Night march and the Clare’s Law Empowerment Launch.
Young people were once again at the centre of that work, including #iWill Ambassadors speaking publicly about the role young people can play in creating safer communities.
UYA has also developed dedicated VAWG training for young people aged 11–16, funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner and designed with young people, for young people.
The programme explores gender-based violence, consent and power, online behaviour, healthy and toxic masculinity, equality and gender roles, intersectionality, boundaries and the legal consequences surrounding harmful behaviour.
Supporting boys and young men means creating space to talk openly about these issues too: helping young men develop healthy relationships, challenge harmful behaviours and recognise the role they can play in creating positive change.
What happens next?
What About the Boys? 2025 demonstrated just how much appetite there is for this conversation.
The day brought together people with different experiences, professions and perspectives, but with a common ambition: improving the opportunities, relationships and support available to boys and young men.
As UYA continues to develop this work, our focus will remain on listening to young people, strengthening the workforce around them and bringing organisations together to turn conversation into meaningful action.
As Jake Adams, Director at UYA, reflected following the conference:
“The honesty in the room, the willingness to listen, and the commitment to young men’s voices felt powerful.
Young men shaping the themes, influencing the conversations, and reminding us why this work matters. Their courage and clarity continue to steer everything we do.
Days like this remind us that change doesn’t just happen – it’s built, together, one conversation at a time.”
Read the What About the Boys? special edition
Our special edition UYA newsletter brings together more from the conference, including delegate reflections, the Young Men’s Hackathon, the Fylde Coast Boys Impact Hub and our wider work supporting young men and challenging Violence Against Women and Girls.