In partnership with Movember, we’re proud to announce a new $4.35M USD Mental Health Grants Funding Program in support of Veterans and First Responders.

They show up on the front line every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way to keep our communities safe and well. Firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical responders and police officers are amongst our first responders providing essential services around the clock, and military veterans are some of our most honoured, having served and sacrificed for their countries, building the foundations for many of our community freedoms.

Yet, the world over, this group experiences higher rates of mental ill-health and suicide compared with the general population.

There are many programs in play that aim to support these groups, but a multi-country review commissioned by Movember and conducted by Dr Donald McCreary has revealed a lack of publicly available evidence of the effectiveness of these programs.

To help address this, in partnership with Movember, The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride is proud to announce a new mental health grants funding program in support of Veterans and First Responders, as well as their families across a number of countries.

An initial investment of $4.35M USD is being earmarked over the next two years to support First Responder Initiatives in New Zealand, Ireland, the UK and the US as well as Veteran and First Responder Initiatives in Australia and Canada. A minimum of eight programs will be funded with a focus on those programs that have already shown promise in improving mental health and/or suicide prevention outcomes for these groups.

The purpose of the funding is to identify those current programs showing promise in improving the mental health of men in these groups and to build the evidence for effective interventions.

Movember and The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride are now inviting applications for grant funding until 23 November 2020. Find out more about funding eligibility, key dates and how to apply by clicking here. Applications are submitted through the online system here.

Questions about the initiative? Check out the Frequently Asked Questions on the Movember website.
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Good luck to all you wonderful applicants! It’s now time for us to band together in support of our Veterans & First Responders who have given so much in support of our communities!