I was standing waiting for my Tube on Monday when a young lad in his late teens started a conversation with me. The platform was pretty much empty and after seeing me with a few golf clubs he asked me if I was any good at golf (S2S golf day anyone?). At first I felt a bit suspicious - I guess London sometimes makes us wary of interactions from people we don’t know. 

Fast forward ten minutes and he told me about his dreams to become a professional footballer. He told me about his current injury and how he’d also tried golf but found it challenging - just like the current job market he’s navigating to help him support his dream. He asked me what I did for a living and so I explained how I’d moved on from the corporate world and found so much more purpose in my life. I told him to follow the community Instagram page. I told him how he might find some brilliant mentors within Shoulder to Shoulder to guide him. I hope we all see him again soon.

Why am I telling you this story? Well to me it serves as a perfect reminder of the power in these small moments of connection. Small moments that we often shy away from, especially in a city like London. Small moments that could change the trajectory of your life. 

So with that in mind, your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to start a conversation with a stranger this week. Give them a compliment, ask them about their day, or deliver a random act of kindness.

You’ll be amazed at where it could lead.

Dan

A reminder all of these events are hosted on our dedicated S2S platform: shoulder.mn.co 

The welcome guide to our S2S platform can be found below:

This week, Tom met with some of the Connector group to discuss something bigger than just our community. We met to discuss how we can advocate for others. 

We started S2S because we saw a problem - millions of men feeling isolated and disconnected. But what's happened over the past year has surprised us. 

We've built something with real influence. Hundreds of us, week in week out, choosing vulnerability and connection. And we started asking: what do we do with that?

There's a lot of noise right now about what's wrong with men. But we don't think the answer is to fight back or defend ourselves. We think it's to actually show and model what good looks like.

So we're doing something most men's communities won't do. We're going public with advocacy work. Not just for men, for causes we believe in. 

Short-term: We're setting up dedicated volunteering initiatives – blood drives, community work, things that create real impact. You’ll already find a dedicated chat set-up in Mighty Networks. 

Medium-term: We're building a proper strategy. Making sure it aligns with our values and actually means something. No performative stuff.

Long-term: We're creating a regular rhythm of campaigning for causes our community believes in. Every member gets a say in what we fight for.

Not because we have to. But because we can. Because for most of our members, they want more purpose, to feel like they're giving back. 

It feels like the world needs more positive male role models right now, and this is our way of doing something about that.

Dan & Tom