It's spring, and new life is bursting out everywhere I look – including in our Who Let The Dads Out? groups! When I look back at when my daughter Laura was born, I can remember many of the highs and lows of becoming a new parent. It was certainly an emotional rollercoaster for both my wife and I. And when I talk to new dads about their experiences, they are honest about the particular stresses and challenges that becoming a parent over these last two years has brought. So how can we offer support to new parents at this critical time? It has been so interesting to see how some of the teams we interact with have been challenged and inspired, particularly on this issue. In Brentwood, the Dads Cafe (Dad and Baby Group) was launched during lockdown at Hutton and Shenfield Union Church to provide much needed support for families at this key stage. Advertised as a simple drop in café for dads and babies up to 24 months, it’s proving hugely popular and is now open 9am – 12pm every Saturday. It sits alongside the Who Let The Dads Out? group which restarted after lockdown. The group meets on the first Saturday of each month and caters for dads, grandads and male carers and their children up to five years old. For several years a community interest company in Suffolk called EPIC Dad, headed up by one of our volunteer reps, has pioneered the EPIC Dad Survival Course. This is a three part course for new and expectant dads to talk through key areas such as a father’s readiness, relationships, and roles. Attendance on the course also includes the free gift of an EPIC Dad Survival Kit (a backpack filled with useful items for the new dad and their new baby). Over the lockdown period, interest in this has grown. EPIC Dad Wales has also been launched and a further partnership in Manchester is under development, both with links to Who Let The Dads Out? Those new dads I talk to, who have become parents in the last two years, seem to have come through that initial emotional rollercoaster of the perinatal period. Their little ones are growing up fast, learning to crawl and toddle. They are looking forward with much joy, hope and great pride in their children. But as they reflect back, they also express appreciation for all the little bits of encouragement and support that they have received along the way – exactly the kind of support we are able to give dads every month at our Who Let The Dads Out? groups. Tony Who Let The Dads Out? team Here’s a really quick taster video for our new Nuts & Bolts online training resource. Nuts & Bolts is a series of free, bite-sized videos that will help you explore why a ministry aimed at supporting fathers is valuable and what it can look like. If you already run a group, Nuts & Bolts is an ideal way to develop and envision your team. We love getting out and about to meet up with existing Who Let The Dads Out? groups and anyone with a heart for supporting fathers. Over the years it’s been an honour to use The Gathering as one of those meeting points and we’ve really missed not being able to hang out with CVM and so many good friends these last two years. But it’s back, in a field near Swindon, and we’re delighted that we’ll be there in the Mess Tent all weekend. Fellas, hope to see you there. Care for the Family live events are also back. A Mind of Their Own gets the party started with dates in March and May visiting Chester, Manchester, Leeds, Tonbridge, Guildford and Clapham Common. Based on her book, A Mind of Their Own: Building Your Child’s Emotional Wellbeing in a Post-Pandemic World, Katharine Hill explores how we can build our children’s emotional wellbeing with input from Dr Rob Waller, Dr Kate Middleton and Mark Chester. Our theme for this eNEWS is support for new dads and in one of our recent Dad Cave podcasts Dan Ridgeon opens up about his experiences of becoming a dad for the first time. “Those first couple of months were such a blur … but looking back I can analyse some of those feelings I experienced … feelings of happiness, intensity and stress”. #dadstalktoo |