Friday April 24th 2026
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Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Catherine Hunter
Young people across Glasgow are being encouraged to take the lead on projects to tackle stigma against mental health and in particular toxic masculinity, according to council reports.
A document presented to members of the education committee yesterday afternoon shows how the council has launched its Young Men: Mental Health and Positive Masculinities Programme.
Statistics show that young men in Scotland face a variety of mental health challenges such as rising rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal behaviours; barriers in accessing help; pressures around masculinity and body image; and significant service delays.
Uptake of support changes as a young person reaches adolescence and this is more significant in boys. Once they reach high school the uptake in mental health support sits at 30% of males compared to 70% of females.
The young men’s mental health programme was formally launched on 30 January 2026, with 27 of Glasgow’s 30 secondary schools participating in the event.
Following the launch, each school was allocated a trained mentor who will support the development and delivery of their individual project throughout the year.
During yesterday’s education committee, councillor Blair Anderson said: “It is excellent to see that this as a focus going forward especially in the context of discussions around gender based violence.
“Young men’s mental health is an issue in itself but obviously creates other issues as well around anti social behaviour, violence and misogyny. The 30-70% uptake difference in adolescent support between young men and young women is pretty stark.
“Going forward, each school is working on a project so it would be useful to get a sense of what the project looked like and what the plans are to support delivery of them. I know there are mentoring and wellbeing checkins so it would be useful to get a bit more detail on what that looks like.”
A council officer said: “We are very excited about this area of work. When we had the session it was in city chambers and there was a real buzz in the air and people were really excited.
“I think the key thing is that young people are co producing these ideas and we are supporting the implementation of them. There will be some exciting work coming out of that and we will bring it towards this committee.
“We are also keen that young people are the lead and that they are supported to take the lead because this is about them and for them.”
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