– Advertisement –
“A man with no mission always returns to his past,” said Danny Foley.
He should know, as this was the brutal doom loop his life used to be.
Before he became a mentor in Wythenshawe, he was stuck in a cycle of drinking, drugs, and crime. He didn’t need another lecture. He needed direction. Belief. Brotherhood.
Now, he sits with young men who are where he once was, lost, angry, on edge. Some are fresh out of prison. Some have grown up without a single positive male role model. Others are just drifting, numbing pain they’ve never been helped to name.
They’re part of abandofbrothers, a grassroots movement changing what it means to be a man in modern Manchester. No uniforms. No labels. Just older men showing up, week after week, with nothing to prove and everything to give.
It’s not charity. It’s not therapy. It’s something rarer: a community that doesn’t give up on you.
“We’re a mentoring charity working with young men aged 18 to 25,” explained Danny, one of the core volunteers in the Manchester branch. “Some are already in contact with the police or probation services, but others might be drifting, maybe smoking weed at weekends or hanging around with the wrong crowd. We try to reach them before things escalate.”
abandofbrothers
Danny (bottom left) with Will Barton (Centre)
Danny knows the story all too well, because he’s lived it. A few years ago, he was still drinking too much, taking drugs, and holding on to a version of himself he was desperate to leave behind.
Now, after three and a half years as a mentor and leader within the charity, he’s helping other men rewrite their stories.
Founded on the idea of healthy masculinity, community and personal growth, abandofbrothers provides structured, long-term mentorship for young men who are in, or at risk of entering, the criminal justice system.
But this is so much more than a mentorship programme. It’s a movement rooted in ancient traditions of initiation and transformation, something that modern life has forgotten.
“We’ve lost the rite of passage in our culture,” said Danny. “That moment when a boy becomes a man and is supported by the community through that process. That’s what we’re trying to rebuild.”
At the heart of ABOB’s programme is a powerful weekend retreat known as The Quest for Community, a three-day immersive experience in nature where young men, and their older mentors, disconnect from the outside world and face their internal landscapes together.
“We take away their phones, their watches. They don’t know the time, they don’t have the outside world distracting them,” said Danny. “We camp out in nature and dive into real, raw conversations. We strip back the noise and look at what beliefs are holding them back.”
Mentoring for Manchester’s youths
abandofbrothers meeting
Following The Quest for Community weekend, each young man receives 10 weeks of one-to-one mentoring from an older man who’s walked a similar path. Meetings are held in neutral spaces, and the topics range from family and relationships to addiction and trauma. Another 10 weeks of mentoring follow on their return, and then they’re considered part of the brotherhood for life.
Crucially, every single mentor is a volunteer. “We’re not government. We’re not on the payroll. We’re not ticking boxes,” Danny said. “We’re just men who’ve been through it ourselves and want to offer something real.”
It’s an intensive process, and that’s the point. In a world of quick fixes and short-term interventions, abandofbrothers is in it for the long haul.
“We’re not here to save people,” said Danny. “We’re here to listen. To show up. To say, ‘I see you. I’ve been where you are. And I’m not going anywhere.’”
From Wythenshawe to the UK
Though abandofbrothers is now a national charity with branches across the UK, Manchester’s chapter has developed its own momentum. Based in Wythenshawe, it has become so popular that it’s already expanding.
“We’ve secured a provisional site up in Middleton,” Danny explained. “There’s such a need for this kind of work in Manchester, especially in areas where community and support have been eroded.”
With nature-based work at the centre of the model, there are long-term plans for dedicated outdoor centres, where the work can go even deeper. “We want to offer real alternatives to prison,” said Danny. “Spaces for parenting support, intergenerational learning, emotional healing. Places where men can actually grow, rather thanonly survive.”
In a city like Manchester, where mental health issues, isolation, and youth crime remain pressing concerns, this kind of thinking feels both radical and essential.
While the structured mentoring programme is central, abandofbrothers also focuses on building community. Group hikes, social dinners, clean-up projects, like a recent day spent sprucing up Moss Side, form part of a wider effort to foster belonging.
“It’s about showing these young men they’re part of something bigger”
“It’s about showing these young men they’re part of something bigger,” said Danny. “That they matter. That Manchester needs them.”
In the background is an understanding that many of these young men have grown up in environments where survival has taken precedence over emotional growth. Most have experienced domestic abuse, neglect, addiction or violence. Some have never had a father figure. Others have learned that showing emotion is a weakness.
“They’re not broken people,” Danny said. “They’ve just never been given the right tools. They’ve not had the same chances.
Danny’s own story is a powerful testament to the programme’s impact.
“I was involved in crime. My relationship with my parents was fractured. Lockdown made me reassess things. I knew I needed to change.”
It was a friend who introduced him to abandofbrothers. “This work gave me purpose,” he said. “I stopped drinking. Stopped taking drugs. Healed my relationship with my family. Got a better career. It gave me structure. It gave me a mission.”
He sees that same transformation in the young men he mentors.
“The most powerful moment is when we do the Homecoming Ceremony,” Danny explains. “That’s when the young men complete the programme. Their families come. Their mums and dads speak about how much they’ve changed. You can feel it in the room, it’s not only talk. It’s real.”
Measuring success, one life at a time
In 2023, abandofbrothers shared some compelling stats:
- 76% of young men reduced offending behaviour
- 97% reported improved mental health
- 92% said they felt more confident building positive relationships
- 85% felt part of a local community
- 68% reduced verbal violence, and 55% reduced physical violence
But Danny said it’s the personal stories that tell the real truth.
“You see someone walk in angry, closed off, mistrustful. Then you see them open up. You see them laugh. You see them care about someone else. That’s how you know it’s working.”
Many of the young men stay involved even after the programme ends, returning to the group as mentors themselves.
“They go from being on the edge of society to being leaders. That’s the full circle. That’s what makes this work so powerful.”
For Danny and the wider team, this isn’t only about helping individuals, it’s about shifting the narrative.
“In this culture, men are told to tough it out, to not show emotion, to go it alone,” Danny said. “But that’s killing us. Literally. The suicide rate in men is heartbreaking. So many men are struggling silently.”
abandofbrothers is attempting to redefine what masculinity can look like: open, accountable, supportive, emotionally intelligent.
And it’s not just the younger men who change. The volunteers do too.
“We all carry stuff,” Danny admits. “I’ve learned just as much from the lads I mentor as they have from me. It’s mutual.”
One of Danny’s biggest frustrations is the way society views men who’ve been through the justice system.
“There’s this idea that they’re just bad people. But no one’s born bad. There’s no ‘bad gene’. What you usually find is trauma. Neglect. No guidance. No one to say, ‘I believe in you.’”
This is why storytelling is central to the group’s work. Known as “mythopoetic practice,” it involves sharing stories of struggle and survival to create connection and understanding.
“When you hear a man talk about what he’s lived through, and you realise it’s not that different from your own story, it breaks down those walls.”
“We’re not here to fix anyone”
For those who are unsure, Danny has a message.
“We’re not therapists. We’re not here to fix anyone. And we’re not interested in ticking boxes. What we offer is a safe, free, non-judgemental space where you can be. You can speak. You can be heard. You can heal.”
And to parents who might be wondering if it’s the right step for their son?
“Try it. It doesn’t cost anything. It could change his life.”
Then he adds his favourite quote, something that’s become a kind of motto among the group:
“A man with no mission always returns to his past. This gives them a mission.”
The future is brotherhood
Back in Wythenshawe, as the group prepares for its next intake, the impact is clear. What started as a few men sitting in a room talking it out has grown into a huge movement, one that’s changing lives and building community from the ground up.
There are dreams of a new permanent site in Middleton. Of more partnerships with schools, councils, and local organisations. Of taking this grassroots model and using it to create genuine alternatives to prison. Prevention over punishment. Healing over harm.
But more than anything, there’s a simple belief at the core of abandofbrothers: that people, when seen, supported and believed in, are capable of profound transformation.
Get involved with abandofbrothers
You can find out more about abandofbrothers on their website by clicking here
– Advertisement –