Front Cover Models

Pat and Marcus have made the big time. Pat is on the front cover of the very first edition of Wiltshire Council's magazine which will find its way through letterboxes county-wide. And Marcus and Harley appear on the front cover of Practising Midwife, the journal in which Jackie's great article appeared last month.

There's a piece about Pat inside the Wiltshire magazine because he was one of the lucky 18-24 year olds who benefited from the Government's Future Jobs Fund. "Young father Patrick Coffin, featured on the cover, was the first person to secure a job as a farm hand at Wiltshire College Lackham under the new scheme. He had been out of work for two years. This has helped Patrick turn his life round and secure a brighter future for his family and himself." Marcus continues to hold down his job, and received a pay rise recently. Well done to you both.

More media stuff

• The Government is publishing a handbook for 'new' fathers which has provoked a bit of media interest. Local radio covered the story this morning. Chris (in Trowbridge) and I were interviewed by both BBC Wiltshire Sound and BBC Swindon.

• Johnny (in Trowbridge) has been talking to a presenter from BBC Switch on London about the possibility of an interview for the Revealed programme on BBC2 on the same subject.

• Stuart and Marcus (in Melksham) have been talking to a film-maker from Bristol who has been commissioned to make a film for BBC4 about fathers' changing roles.

• Den (in Swindon) has had his story written up as a brief case study for the DCSF.
  

• A freelance producer approached us in December because he was making a 'fast turnaround' documentary about couples who were having a baby as the result of a whirlwind romance (!). One couple talked to him but it turned out that he didn't think their romance was whirlwind enough. You can't make this stuff up (part 1).
  

• A journalist from the Observer approached us, also last month, because its Woman's magazine wanted an article about young parents who were managing to stay together despite the difficulties they had to face. The journalist's editor expressed an interest in talking to two U-Too couples, but when she discovered that the two dads were ex-offenders she got cold feet, despite the fact that both these young men have turned their lives around. Sounds like she want some unrealistically rosy picture and our couples didn't fit the bill. Looks like Observer Woman isn't ready for the reality of young parenthood. You can't make this stuff up (part 2).

Practising Midwife

I've just been sent some copies of December's edition of this journal. The front cover has the picture of Marcus and Harley which first appeared in the 2009 Dads Matter Too calendar. And inside there's a great article by Jackie about U-Too Dads. I'll get copies out next week to everyone who appears in the article.