Begin the Journey is a life changing 9-week men’s program being launched at the Minor Works Building, where weekly Open Men’s Circles have been happening for over two years.

The council and the community centre have supported this work strongly, and our local facilitator, James Davidson, was recently awarded Active Citizen of the Year for his contribution to the community through the men’s circles at the centre. That award reflects what people on the ground can see. When men have the right space and support, they change. Families feel it. Workplaces feel it. The whole community feels it.

Begin the Journey is awesome because it gives men something most of them have never had. A safe place to be real. A place where they don’t have to perform, pretend, or tough it out alone. Men often arrive carrying stress, shame, anger, numbness, anxiety, relationship breakdown, addiction patterns, or that quiet belief that nobody would understand what they’ve been through. One of the biggest shifts we see is the moment a man realises he’s not alone, and that his life isn’t stuck the way it’s been.

Across the nine weeks, men learn how to understand what’s going on inside them and how to communicate it without blowing up or shutting down. They start recognising the patterns that keep repeating in their lives and they learn practical ways to make different choices. They become more grounded, more accountable, more honest, and more connected. Many men tell us it changes how they show up as partners, as fathers, as friends, and as men in their community.

This isn’t a motivational talk or a quick fix. It’s a steady, supported journey where men actually practise new ways of being and the changes follow them home. That’s why it’s life changing, and that’s why Awesome Foundation Adelaide was proud to support a number of men to participate who might have financial barriers or other challenges to overcome to be part of it.