Men's Mental Health Foundation

Men's Mental Health Foundation, A Social Enterprise Organisation Making a Difference! Australia’s Men's Mental Health Foundation (mmhf.org.au) is now launched and is seeking to improve men’s mental health and prevent men’s suicide through creative Social Enterprise endeavours. The Foundation was conceived by Leon Gardiner during Australia’s Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Concerned that while there are many Not-for-Profit organisations, Leon felt there were too few focused on reducing men’s suicides and related mental health issues. He sought to do a PhD on the subject but was rejected as he was told he was ‘too old’. Undeterred, he chose to create a Foundation to support men’s mental health for the prevention of suicide and Men’s Mental Health Foundation (MMHF) was conceived. With the assistance of a few dedicated friends, the MMHF was curated and launched by the Independent Member for Goldstein, Victoria Zoe Daniel, in April of 2023. Our small team of four ‘early stage’ supporters all work as volunteers, on a Pro-bono basis. MMHF can best be described as a Not-for-Profit ‘startup’. Our mission is to create something unique and lasting in support of Men’s Mental Health with the objective of reducing men’s suicide, particularly in the fields of construction. Following discussions with Jeff Kennett, the founding chairman of beyondblue, who emphasized men’s mental health needs ‘continuous advocacy’, Leon and the team of Check J. Tan, Phillip Tonks, and Peter David chose to pursue the creation of a Social Enterprise focus to create a self-funding strategy. Yes, the Foundation does accept donations and we do pursue grants. As the team all have commercial enterprise backgrounds, we feel it best to create ongoing value-added services to financially support the Foundations mission. As an ACNC registered not-for-profit organization, we are committed to improving men's mental health and well-being across the nation. We are creative in our approach, applying our commercial and entrepreneurial backgrounds to find alternative means to raise funds to support the Foundations mission, such as through Social Enterprise activities. We are a ‘virtual’ organisation working in a hybrid manor which allows for greater inclusion. Together, we can make a difference in men's mental health! Men's Mental Health Foundation www.mmhf.org.au [email protected] 1800 THE MMHF ABN: 396 5669 3720 ACNC Date of Registration: 23 June 2022