Dads Matter Too

Men and Boys Conference

2011-11-11T23:02:00.004Z

It’s been a while since my last post, mainly because I wanted the news about our course to be seen as soon as visitors opened our link. But stuff HAS been happening. A couple of agencies have already acquired the licence to use the course and others are interested. And at the beginning of November Carolyn and I went to the first Men and Boys Conference in Brighton. We put some U-Too news on display boards, gave a talk about the course and met old friends, including Melvyn Davies, who John will remember, and Rob Williams from the Fatherhood Institute, who Den has met.

Rob has arranged for news about the course to appear in The Fatherhood Institute’s next email and I’m helping to put together a list of organisations working with fathers. The idea is that eventually a network of such organisations will be created to lobby for more resources for work with men and boys, and for fathers in particular.

ACCREDITED COURSE FOR YOUNG DADS-TO-BE

2011-05-06T11:52:00.002+01:00

THIS IS NOW AVAILABLE AND OFFERS A LEVEL 1 QUALIFICATION.

It is linked to 5 NOCN units and contains 10 modules, most of the contents of which are based on the course we ran successfully for many years in Swindon and the rest of Wiltshire. If you would like to know more, please contact us on 01380 850516 or email us at u-tootraining@tiscali.co.uk or at mikewhite.bromham@btinternet.com. We are particularly interested in finding an agency that would like to pilot this new course and thus be part of a key initiative to support a badly neglected group of young men, their partners and their children.

"Preparation for Fatherhood" course

2011-03-07T16:43:00.004Z

Carolyn and I met with Chris Latham this morning. Chris is Development Manager for the Open College Network's south-western region (OCNSWR). We worked out what we need to do next to try to get the course accredited. The following discussion of the issues involved appears on page 4 of the CSJ's response to Frank Field's report.

Coming alongside young fathers-to-be

There are few programmes to help young fathers-to-be, although Graham Allen made the point that ‘Health and early years services need to do more to ensure that expectant mother and fathers are offered high-quality community-based preparation for parenthood that includes learning about the needs of babies during pregnancy and early life and how to make the successful transition to parenthood.’

U-Too, a 2010 CSJ poverty-fighting Award winner runs such programmes to help young fathers-to-be. It used the Award money to fund a rewrite of their course so that it could gain accreditation and be made available to other agencies that would then be eligible for funding. Although they completed the rewrite using National Open College Network’s Progression Units, the current restructuring of acceptable qualifications might mean that the Units used are no longer available. If this is the case, they will fail to receive accreditation. Smaller organisations who are trying to establish the validity of a programme and have designed it according to recognised tenets, may still struggle to obtain the necessary accreditation for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with programme effectiveness.

The complete CSJ response can be found at:

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/2011182_CSJresponse_childpovertyconsultation.pdf

Young dads-to-be course

2011-02-19T11:02:00.002Z

Carolyn and I met with Valerie Hall on Monday. Valerie is a Quality Reviewer for the National Open College Network (NOCN). Valerie confirmed that the course we've rewritten is at the upper end of the requirements for a Level 1 Award, which is good news. Even better is that she thought it's user friendly, not patronising, and gives participants ownership of their own learning. Best of all, Den and Mark feel quite envious of anyone who does the new course because they both wish they could have done it instead of our original version!

But there's a problem. The course is linked to five NOCN progression units which we now learn may not be available after the end of July. So we're going to see if we can make it a stand-alone qualification. We're going to meet with Chris Latham, our regional NOCN Development Manager, in early March to see what can be worked out. Watch this space!

Silver Stars

2011-02-15T17:30:00.004Z

Jenny, Lisa Den and Steven were presented with their Silver Arts Award certificates by the Mayor of Swindon, Cllr Rex Barnett, at last Tuesday's Presentation Evening at The Platform. This represents a considerable achievement for all four, but especially for Den and Lisa, both of whom had left school with no GCSEs. So it's a reminder that, given the right circumstances and support, young people from their background can achieve remarkable success.

Silver Arts Award

2011-02-01T23:26:00.002Z

Steven, Den, Lisa and Jenny will be presented with their Silver Arts Awards on Thursday next week at The Platform in Swindon. Steven's story appears on the Arts Award website at:

http://www.artsaward.org.uk/site/?id=2156&action=preview&backTo=index

Early Intervention: The Next Steps

2011-01-22T12:57:00.004Z

Graham Allen's review was published this week. It can be found at:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/early-intervention-next-steps.pdf

We made our own contribution to it and it was good to see the following sentence on page 48

"Health and early years services need to do more to ensure that expectant mothers and fathers are offered high-quality community-based preparation for parenthood that includes learning about the needs of babies during pregnancy and early life and how to make the successful transition to parenthood."

At last there is recognition that expectant fathers, as well as expectant mothers, should be offered some means of preparation for fatherhood. Perhaps our new course can become part of that provision. But the fact that the word 'father' appeared nearly EIGHT times less frequently than the word 'mother' suggests that policy makers still have some way to go.

A big day for dads

2011-01-18T00:23:00.003Z

It's all happening today. An article appeared in The Times this morning. Entitled "The reality of being a teenage dad" by Elizabeth McFarlane, it has an almost accurate quote of mine. You can find the article at http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/relationships/article2875431.ece but to read it you'll have to subscribe for £1, then unsubscribe!

Then this evening Panorama broadcast its programme, "Where's Dad?", about fathers who lose contact with their children.

And finally I've just finished writing the Tutor Pack to go along with Dads Matter Too, the rewrite of our original dads' course. All we have to do now is to get it checked by our friends at the National Open College Network to see that it's at the right standard for Level 1 accreditation. When that's done we'll see if we can get it published. Jackie has agreed to produce an A4 copy of the DVD cover to use as the front cover for the course. Thanks Jackie!

Dads Matter Too

2011-01-13T12:11:00.002Z

At last. I've finished the course rewrite. I'll be taking it round to check out what people think about it. If any of you read this, put it out on Facebook cos I know more of you use that than the blog. Ta!

Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances

2010-12-03T15:32:00.003Z

Some time ago we were asked to make a submission to Frank Field's Review, which has just been published, and can be found at this link:

http://povertyreview.independent.gov.uk/media/20254/poverty-report.pdf

U-Too was one of 31 CSJ Alliance members who contributed to the Review. Page 86 of the Review says that, "Submissions from the CSJ Alliance emphasised the role of the family relationships as being the key determinants of positive outcomes. Structure and stability of the family, emotional stability of the parents, parenting skills, quality of adult and child relationships, inter-adult relationships and positive adult role models were all identified as crucial factors. Love and affection in a committed family setting was by far the single aspect of early childhood most often cited as having the greatest influence."

All of us involved with U-Too; dads, mums and tutors; know how true this all is. Let's hope the Government decides to take the Review's recommendations seriously and supports the sort of work which we and so many other social enterprises and charities know is fundamental to improving the life chances of so many children.

Dad Academy focus group

2010-11-27T07:58:00.003Z

Fifteen of us met at the Methodist International Centre on Thursday. Most came from London but we weren't the only provincials. Nor was Den the only young dad. The meeting started with a general discussion about what it means to be a dad and went on to identify great ideas for groups of local fathers to do with their children. Den talked about his experience of Story Sacks in Swindon and it was humbling to hear about the wide range of other really creative projects that were going on elsewhere in the UK. Of particular interest to us was the baby massage programme in Lewisham where dads are being trained to run sessions for other dads, the comprehensive Dangerous Dads activities programme which has been developed in Devon, and the use of film animation in Birmingham. There's so much good stuff going on.

The Fatherhood Institute

2010-11-23T10:54:00.002Z

We've been asked to take part in a Fatherhood Institute meeting in London on Thursday. Den and I will be going and we'll report what happens.

More Arts Award stuff

2010-10-30T18:47:00.006+01:00

The following info has come from Create:

Steven and Den's files are actually very good.

Den has specifically said that the arts award gave him the confidence to go to college.

Also quote from Steven

"I am very happy and proud of the progress I have made and the achievement I have gained from this course. I have learned so much about art, music, media and about myself, I feel I can now be confident enough in my work and can take the next step to getting my poetry publicly recognised. I have more ambition and more determination to do the things I want to do, but couldn't do before."

Steven has mentioned wanting to do work experience with us to write for the Artsmad newsletter, he is being used as a case study on the arts awards website and having his review published on there.

The fact that Jenny and Lisa have completed at all is a massive achievement considering Lisa has had a baby in the middle of the award and Jenny has been moved by social services ...

Well done you guys!

Dads AND Mums do great

2010-10-29T11:55:00.003+01:00

I've just heard from Dienka that Den, Lisa, Steven and Jenny have all achieved their Silver Arts Award, and Mark may complete next month. This really is fantastic as it's equivalent to a GCSE A-C pass. And for young people whose school careers were less than wonderful, it's a reminder of just what they're capable of. More details to follow.

Silver Arts Award

2010-10-10T20:03:00.002+01:00

Steven has submitted the following article to the Arts Award regional magazine and it has been accepted for publication. Good stuff Steven!

Arts Award Event Review

By Steven Matthews

On Saturday July 31^st at 2pm an enthusiastic group of young fathers and mothers began to arrive at the Platform Youth Centre in Swindon.

They came from all different locations including Salisbury, Melksham, Paignton and Swindon.

They were here to hold an event, which many had organised as part of their Silver Arts Award.

The event was also being used to celebrate the successes of a young fathers group called Dads Matter Too which was set up a few years ago by founders Mike and Carolyn White, who were due to retire soon after the event.

The group of young fathers along with their tutor Mike had enjoyed recognition for their efforts, locally and nationally which included guest spots on various radio stations and the BBC Breakfast Show and even won two awards for their impact in the media and within communities.

The event took place inside a kitted out train carriage, which had been installed within the centre.

On entering it was clear that the five arts students had planned the event in great detail and seemed well organised.

They had even prepared a wide selection of food and drink for the event.

While waiting for attendees to arrive the room was filled with anticipation and excitement as many were deep in conversation, catching up with old friends and associates.

Once everyone had arrived the students made a few last minute checks then the event was underway.

It started with an introduction and a warm welcome before making preferences to the group, its achievements and detailing the agenda for the event.

Two photography students took their places ready to take photos of the event as another student took to the stage to perform a rap, which he had written for Mike, in recognition to the dedication, help and support he had provided for the group over the years.

The performance was followed by applause before the next act stepped up to perform.

After giving a short introduction a poem was read by one of the students, which he had written about his interpretation of the ongoing war.

He then finished his performance with a bow and rejoined the applauding group.

There was then a heartfelt speech from tutor Mike, who was honoured by the event and performances and reflected on the positive influence the young fathers group has had around the country.

The event then concluded with a group picture and a ‘thank you’ speech from some of the group and a display of photography and lyrics from the arts course.

Rhyme Time

2010-09-26T11:55:00.007+01:00

Den wrote his 'Dad Rap' for Dads Matter Too over two years ago and has continued to write material, currently for his Silver Arts Award. Steven has been writing poetry for an even longer period of time, and even had one of them published. He has just written a new poem, which he has entered in the Calne Music & Arts Festival Poetry Competition.

A Thousand Soldiers

A thousand soldiers died today,

A thousand soldiers cried today,

A thousand promises broke away,

A thousand bodies laid to waste.

The blood-drenched fields go on for miles,

And in their camps there will be no smiles.

Just tears of sadness, mourning lost lives,

Making toasts and drinking wine.

But deep in their hearts madness awakes,

Patiently waiting for the next day.

This war is no longer about wrong or right.

It's about revenge, and avenging those who died.

Another U-Too dad has recently written some very personal poems so would prefer to stay anonymous, However he has also entered two of them in the CMAF competition and would like to share them with readers of this blog.

Dad

Many years on, not a lot has changed,
The time I don't see you still remains the same,
In a lot of ways I feel slightly deranged,
And in a lot of ways, I feel that you're to blame.

My memories are vague, few and far between,
Yet the fact remains the same, how absent you have been,
You escaped your responsibility, I find it obscene,
How you've kept the lack of contact, you washed your hands clean.

But was it me to blame? Is it me at fault?
I was just a child, and you were an adult,
How many times at night, I've woken with a jolt,
With fear, remorse and sadness, wishing my thoughts would halt.

I barely even know you, I'm not sure that I want to,
The pain that you've inflicted hurts more than it should do,
After all this time, I hardly care about you,
And all the time I'm wondering, is this the way you feel too?

Mother

The one person I've known my whole life through,
Who knows me better than any could do,
And yet how I realise I barely know you,
We don't talk often enough.

I find it so hard, I'm not quite sure why,
To talk to you more, as hard as I try,
But you don't complain, so neither do I,
Although this is how I feel.

I know for a fact that I'll look back one day,
And wish that we'd talked loads more, day to day,
As I beg for the anguish to just fade away,
That's not what I want for myself.

You've done all you can, when raising me,
To help me become all I can be,
I'll make you proud, just wait and see,
For everything you've done, I thank you.

Then

Evening sets upon us, as we argue the toss,

I don't know what it's all for, we're both at a loss,
I'm not quite sure what I've done, to make you so cross.

I loved everything about you once, but now we just despise,
We square up to each other, the anger in your eyes,
You spit at me, I hit you, and then I want to cry,
I've over stepped the mark, and I don't understand why.

The jealousy of things that the other gets to do,
The thought of you enjoying time makes me angry at you,
I look at how I'm thinking and I think "I don't mean to".

But there's nothing I can do and nothing I can say,
I try to apologise, but you're walking away,
We argue just a little more, then sleep 'til break of day.

We wake up nice and early, both of us in a mood,
We talk about it quietly, as we both have some food,
We both decide to let it slide, 'til it happens again,
The hassle we could have avoided, if we'd ended it then...

The final countdown

2010-08-01T15:54:00.012+01:00

U-Too dads held a final get-together in The Platform's old railway carriage in Swindon yesterday afternoon. The event was organised by Den, Mark, Steven, Lisa and Jenny as part of the leadership element of their Silver Arts Award. But it also acted as a farewell to U-Too, and a celebration of its dads' work. An exhibition containing photos taken by Lisa and Jenny, a very moving anti-war poem written by Steven, and an equally moving rap written by Den, was displayed. Steven read his poem, Den gave the first public performance of his rap, and Mike reminded everyone of their experiences and achievements with U-Too. These included:
TV appearances:
Chris and Laura, Lee and Tash, and Marcus and Charlotte.
Film appearances:
Will and Rorie, and Den and Lisa.
Appearances in a wide range of national and local publications:
Chris and Laura, Marcus and Charlotte, Stuart, Marcus (again), Anthony and Chelsey, Ben and Georgie, Pat, Den (again), Lisa (again), Steven, Lisa (yet again), Brett, Gareth and John, and all those who took part in the Dads Matter Too film, which now appears in the Fatherhood Institute's Invible Fathers resource pack.
Delivery of sessions and workshops at local, regional, and national conferences:
John, Gareth, Den, Lee, Mark, Pat, Lisa and Mike.
National award acceptance speech:
Marcus
Bronze Arts Award:
Den, Lisa, Marcus, Charlotte, Mark, Steven, Brett, April and Jenny.
Level 1 OCN Personal Budgeting & Money Management:
Dan, Will, Rorie, Josh and Stuart.
Level 2 course in Effective Parenting:
Chris, Laura and Rorie.
Awards:
The Prince's Trust South West Region Community Impact Award 2008 for "Dads Matter Too".
The Centre for Social Justice Award 2009 for "U-Too Dads".

Everyone who has been part of U-Too can be proud of this enormous range of activities and it's a reminder that young people, particularly those who may write themselves off, or may be written off by others, are capable of so much if they are given the opportunity to demonstrate their talents and abilities.

Here's the exhibition and Steven reading his poem. And here are the final countdowners. From L to R Laura with Ellie and Chris from Westbury, Steven from Swindon, Gail (U-Too director and writer of the young dads-to-be course), Jenny from Swindon, Jackie of Bayford Arts (PhD student - and our wonderful film-maker and blog creator), Den with Max, and Lisa with Paige, all from Swindon, Mark, also from Swindon, John from Paignton, April with Harvey and Brett from Swindon, Mike and Carolyn (U-Too directors), and Nick, Jade and Kiera from Devizes.
Dave and Hannah, Dan and Zuzu, all from Salisbury, Will and Rorie from Trowbridge, Stuart and Leia from Melksham, Chris and Josh, both from Calne, and Anthony and Chelsey from Cricklade all had other commitments. Just as well because the railway carriage only holds 30 at the most!

More U-Too firsts

2010-07-23T22:55:00.009+01:00

Certificates have just arrived for the first U-Too dads to complete the Open College Network's course in Personal Budgeting & Money Management. So congratulations to Dan, Josh, Stuart and Will. And congratulations to Rorie, Will's partner, who has also completed the course successfully.

U-Too firsts

2010-07-05T09:56:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Chris and Laura in Westbury. They have been taking NCLP's Level 2 course in Developing Skills in Effective Parenting since February and have just completed it successfully. Chris is the first father to have taken the course with U-Too and they are the first couple to have completed the course with us.

Dreamcatcher

2010-06-16T08:12:00.002+01:00

Here's Chris with his own dreamcatcher. I've had to educate myself about them, and have discovered that good dreams go through the middle hole in the catcher while the bad dreams get caught in the web and perish in the dawn. On a more prosaic note, Chris is the first U-Too dad who, along with his partner Laura, has been taking the Level 2 Parents With Prospects course. He and Laura have both completed the first two units of the course and have nearly finished Unit 3. Great stuff!

Birthday boy

2010-06-16T08:07:00.003+01:00

I just happened to be visiting Will, Rorie and Connor yesterday on Connor's first birthday. so a photo was clearly needed for the family album. Connor had a minor operation recently at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. He seems none the worse for it.

End of an era

2010-06-15T10:01:00.004+01:00

Carolyn and I have decided to retire because we're rather ancient. We wanted to find a way of seeing U-Too's work continue and were pleased that a charity, Learning Curve, based in Melksham, was prepared to take over our work. The takeover took place recently and we've been helping with the transition. You can find out more by pasting this link into your browser:

www.learningcurve.org.uk/Aboutus/News/u2join

Den is planning a farewell event at the Platform in Swindon on Saturday 31 July between 2pm and 4pm. We're going to be allowed to use the railway carriage! Invites will be sent out this week and we hope that most of the dads will be able to attend as it may be the last time we can all get together.

And one more

2010-06-14T11:01:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Dave and Hannah on the recent arrival of Layton.

Layton weighed in at 9lbs 7ozs. Ouch!!

Three new arrivals

2010-04-29T11:15:00.008+01:00

Young men who have taken U-Too's course for young fathers-to-be have recently become fathers.

Here's Nick and Jade with Keira, Stuart with Sapphire, a sister for Jessica, and Bradley and Paige with Liam. Both Jade and Paige had attended our young mums-to-be course. Good luck to all of them!

Centre for Social Justice

2010-04-27T10:57:00.003+01:00

There's a geat photo of Brett, April and the kids on the CSJ's website at http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/default.asp?pageref=446 It illustrates an article a CSJ seminar in London taking place on Friday where I'll be talking about our work.

Silver Arts Award

2010-04-23T10:49:00.004+01:00

Brett, Lisa and JJ had their last session with Madeleine at Create's studio in the Wyvern Theatre yesterday. So their photography Arts challenge is nearly finished. Den, Mark and Steven have made good progress with their music Arts challenge and the tracks for their CDs have been laid down. Dienka is busy sorting ot the next bit of the Award and we hope everyone will have finished by July. There's already talk of going for Gold!

The General Election

2010-04-20T21:32:00.003+01:00

Difficult to believe, but here's the Prime Minister in U-Too's teaching room at the Drove Children's Centre in Swindon this afternoon, talking to one of the young mums who has completed the YMTB course. He had asked to meet the current group of young mums-to-be and spoke to Lesley, the group's tutor, and to Carolyn. So altho' this is not strictly a dads' item, it looks as if the work of U-Too, and sister organisations, have an impact at a national level. And, although it is easy to be cynical about what might be construed as a typical photo-opp, he appeared to be genuinely interested in our work. Not that you'd have seen any of this if you watched tonight's news bulletins.

Who Needs Fathers?

2010-03-31T09:47:00.002+01:00

Some of us might thing the answer to this question is obvious. But tonight sees the first of three documentaries on BBC2 about the effect on children of their parents' divorce. It will be interesting to see how the programmes answer the question.

BBC Switch

2010-03-29T18:27:00.002+01:00

We received the following email from a BBC journalist who had interviewed Johnny and Charmaine last week.

Just to let you know that Charmaine and Jonny were on Newsbeat on Radio 1 this (Tuesday 23rd) lunchtime http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/b006wkry

...and also on our website http://www.bbc.co.uk/switch/revealed/?story=sextalk

and on BBC Breakfast too! They did really well. And Harmony looked lovely

Being technologically challenged I've no idea whether these clips can still be seen, but it might be worth a look.

Two new arrivals

2010-03-19T11:46:00.004Z

Wednesday saw the arrival of two 'U-Too' babies. Ellie was born at 6.30 am, 8lbs 5ozs. So congratulations to Laura and Chris. Then Paige arrived a month early at 5lbs 1oz. So Max now has a little sister and Den and Lisa are going to have their hands full!

Ellie had to go back into hospital on Friday because she was jaundiced. Laura stayed in overnight with her but, although she was fortunate enough to have a room to herself, Chris was not allowed to stay with her. They found his exclusion very upsetting but, of course, there was nothing they could do about it. It's another example of the way in which young fathers are excluded at crucial times by health service professionals, and an illustration of how far we still have to go to make such services fully inclusive.

The Psychologist

2010-03-17T10:49:00.002Z

Last year nearly 20 U-Too young dads completed a questionnaire about their lives and I wrote a paper which has finally appeared in this month's edition of The Psychologist. Details can be found on The Fatherhood Institute website at:
http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/index.php?id=13&cID=1071

or on The Psychologist's website at:
http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/

More U-Too material can also be found on the FI website at:

http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/index.php?search=1&id=0&keyword=u-too&imageField.x=11&imageField.y=14

Sex and culture - worth talking about

2010-03-05T11:25:00.006Z

This was the title of the event held in Exeter yesterday, organised by the Government Office South West. Mike, Den and Lisa presented a case study based on Dads Matter Too and the Arts Award. Needless to say, Den and Lisa stole the show! Here is some of the feedback they received:

"Really enjoyed hearing your heartfelt comments about the projects and what you got out of them. Some great messages to take back to my own area when trying to sell them the idea of developing similar projects locally. Good luck to you both and THANKS!”

“Well articulated, clear points. You have done a superb job of describing your project and the outcomes you have as a result”

“It was so good to hear Den & Lisa speak so fluently and reflectively about their experiences. A real boost to the event.

Mike wrestles with the mike
Den writes a receipt
Den and Lisa with their photos

Max is a star

2010-02-09T13:27:00.002Z

The next generation is on its way. Max was given his teacher's Special Award last Thursday. Den and Lisa are suitably proud!

Trowbridge has three firsts

2010-02-03T11:15:00.003Z

Congratulations to Charmaine and Johnny on the birth of Harmony who weighed in at 5lbs 11ozs after an uncomfortably long labour. Johnny was pleased to learn that Harmony's APGAR was 9, which he knew from the young dads-to-be course meant that she was fine.

And congratulations too to Chris, Laura, Steve and Charmaine (and Ashton) who have started working on our level 2 'effective parenting' course. This is the first time that any young dads, let alone couples, have worked on this course and we're looking forward to working together over the next few months.

And more congratulations, this time to Will and Aurora, who have both attended a Red Cross Infant & Child First Aid workshop at Studley Green Children's Centre recently and now have certificates to prove it.

Front Cover Models

2010-01-20T21:27:00.004Z

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

2010-01-20T10:26:00.003Z

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

2010-01-15T14:40:00.002Z

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.

A Merry Christmas to all our readers!

2009-12-19T19:09:00.014Z

Here's a selection of Christmas trees which
can be found where Dan, Stuart, Johnny, Will, Den and Mike live. Can you work out whose is whose?

Unlike most competitions there are no prizes for any correct answers.

And here's a very subtle star on top of one of them. If you can get the video to work your life will never be the same.

'Addressing teenage pregnancy through culture and sport'

2009-12-19T19:02:00.002Z

We had been asked to run a session at a conference last February but it was snowed off. We heard recently that the conference was on again, in Exeter on March 4th in the New Year. Originally Den, Lisa, Brett and Steven were going to talk about their Bronze Arts Awards and raise awareness of the problems about trying to fund their progression onto the next level . But now, as a result of the news in my previous post they'll also be able to talk about their progress through Silver. Jackie has also said she'd be happy to take part. Great stuff!

Christmas has come early!

2009-12-19T18:45:00.004Z

At the beginning of this week we learnt that Carolyn had been successful in obtaining a grant from Swindon Borough Council for the Silver Arts Award. We have been trying to find a source of funds for several months without success so it was with great excitement, and some relief, that we heard the news. Lisa and I went to see Shahina and Barry at Create Studios in the Wyvern Theatre on Thursday to work out the next steps. It looks as if Den, Steven and Mark will be able to pursue their separate interests in music and lyrics, and Lisa and Brett will be able to develop their photographic skills. One of Lisa's photographs already appears in the current edition of the Arts Council's Silver Arts Award booklet so it's particularly appropriate that she can now try to gain that Award. April is thinking about whether she would like to take part, and I still have to contact JJ, Marcus and Charlotte to see if they are interested.

Jackie won't be able to act as our Arts Award adviser because she is so busy with her PhD work, which she is doing in addition to all her usual projects. But she says she'd love to come and do a one-off workshop and use that to address parts of the award if we plan it out with the adviser in advance. So all we have to do now is to find an Arts Award adviser in Swindon.

One last thing - Steven has given me a photo of himself with Jamie. I've put it with the rest of the updated photos in my post of 16th June.

dad news

2009-12-03T15:15:00.003Z

heya all just a qwick one lisa and i is have a little girl the bst news in the would
am sorry to here harley hope u get better soon were here markics if u need us m8

'New' dads-to-be on the course

2009-11-27T10:15:00.004Z

Here's Johnny with Charmaine and Chris working away at the course in his flat in Trowbridge.

Community Arts Training

2009-11-22T11:48:00.000Z

Jackie showed extracts of the DVD and talked about Dads Matter Too to about 30 artists, educators and community practitioners in Warminster last weekend at the Wiltshire Community Arts Training . Several people came up afterwards to say how much they appreciated seeing the film extracts, to get copies of the DVD and ask about the calendar. One person even recognised Mike from D of E work they had done together 20 years ago - small world!

More good stuff

2009-09-25T16:16:00.002+01:00

Something is in the air -
Anthony has just started a plumbing course in Swindon;
Den has just started a vocational studies course in Swindon;
Lisa has started a part-time job in Trowbridge;
Pat has signed up for a bricklaying course in Trowbridge;
Tash has signed up for a child care course in Trowbridge;
Steven is on a parenting course in Swindon;
Aurora and Gemma are starting the Parents With Prospects course in Trowbridge;
Josh is continuing his college courses in Calne;
Stuart has started on Resolve;
Brett and Marcus, both working, are tackling really difficult situations;
Max and Harvey are both going to nursery school and are now potty-trained!

University research projects

2009-09-24T09:51:00.003+01:00

A researcher from Reading University has been working with several U-Too young couples as part of a year-long investigation into the lives of young parents in rural areas. Phoebe is a young mother herself so is well aware of the pressures that come with parenthood. Here she is with Tash, Pat and Harley in Melksham after a three hour visit to Trowbridge College where Tash and Pat are now both enrolled on courses - but not before some major hassles involving complications around benefits and travel costs.

Phoebe is also seeing Dan and Zuzu in Salisbury, Damian and Gemma in Westbury, Will and Aurora in Trowbridge, Stuart and Leia in Melksham, and Josh and Terri in Calne. We are looking forward to seeing the results of her research in due course.

Another researcher, based at King's College, London but working for the Government Office South West, has interviewed Chris in Calne as part of her study about lifestyles and young fatherhood.

Healthy Eating!

2009-09-24T09:37:00.001+01:00

Last night Anthony was preparing his gourmet version of spag bol. Here he is with his FRESH ingredients, including mince, chopped onions and green pepper. It's always a bit of a trial for me to go round to see him and Chelsey in the evening, as I don't get home to eat till after I've seen them, because there are usually mouth-watering smells wafting out of their kitchen.

CSJ DVD

2009-09-17T11:54:00.001+01:00

I've just been sent some copies of these so I'll be giving one to Den and Will, who both appeared in the film, and one to Marcus who went to the award ceremony. If anyone else is interested in a copy, let me know.

New courses

2009-09-08T09:56:00.004+01:00

A number of courses for young mums-to-be and follow-on parenting skills courses are about to start:

YMTB SALISBURY 15 September to December at Salisbury Foyer
SWINDON 15 September to December at Drove Children's Centre
TROWBRIDGE 14 September to December at Bridge House

Parenting Skills SALISBURY 9 September to March at Bemerton Heath
SWINDON 28 September to March at Drove Children's Centre
TROWBRIDGE 24 September to March at Bellefield Children's Centre

For further details contact Carolyn on 01380 850547 or Zoe on 07989 929193

Partners of the young women on the YMTB courses in Salisbury and Trowbridge may like to do their own course in preparation for fatherhood. If so, please contact Mike on 07875 639992.

NCLP Internal Verifier report

2009-08-16T19:32:00.003+01:00

Once again U-Too was given a really positive report for their Young Mums To Be and Parents With Prospects courses. Comments include:

This centre is providing excellent support for the candidates.
It is clear to see all tutors are dedicated to their work.
The candidates' portfolios are of a consistently high standard.
Links with external agencies in Salisbury are excellent.
This centre has excellent achievement results and shows best practice in assessment.

So thanks once again to our team of tutors, Alison, Jayne, Lesley, Sue, for maintaining such high standards, to Zoe for her support and excellent outreach work, and to Carolyn for making sure the show stays on the road.

Baby Massage Course takes place

2009-08-16T19:10:00.005+01:00

Three couples came to the course at Studley Green Children's Centre in Trowbridge. Marcus, JJ and Nickolas came by train from Swindon, via Bath Spa. Anthony, Chelsey and Laila came from Calne, and Will, Aurora and Connor came from Trowbridge. Three other couples hoped to attend but various bits of life got in the way. Chelsey said she and Anthony "loved the baby massage. Laila was really relaxed all day and was as good as gold!" Aurora came despite having an unpleasant cold and all three couples picked up some useful techniques to use with their children. Thanks go to Niall for setting up the course and to Catherine for running it.

Chelsey massages Laila's legs and tummy watched by an attentive Anthony.

Mark does the same with Nickolas, watched by Catherine and JJ

Baby Massage Course

2009-08-01T10:36:00.002+01:00

This is going to take place at Studley Green Children's Centre in Trowbridge from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 15th August. Niall Howard, who works there, has organised it for us. Lunch is being provided and we'll pay fares. All you need to do is to get yourselves there! It's a great opportunity to meet 'old' friends from the DVD, as well as 'new' U-Too dads.

Lijit - who's visiting us?

2009-07-19T08:19:00.006+01:00

Here's a new 'wigit' called 'lijit' (scroll down the page on the left) that should show us where visitors to the blog come from, what's most interesting to people, and what else is interesting on the websites we've mentioned in 'useful links' ... Or you can just click 'surprise me' and it opens a surprise page from any of our linked sites. It could search other sites, flickr, things like that.. let me know if there's something i should add.
John suggested the original counter back in the early days of the blog, and that's been a great way to see the impact.
I hope this one might be interesting too...

Puzzle of the day

2009-07-16T08:50:00.001+01:00

Which U-Too dad says "I wear the trousers in our relationship ... but my girlfriend picks which ones I wear."

U Too Dads

2009-07-10T22:58:00.003+01:00

Watch the CSJ short film shown in London (including a couple of extracts from the Dads Matter Too DVD)

We won!!

2009-07-03T06:54:00.017+01:00

Jackie's beaten me to it! U-Too Dads have done it again - so congratulations to everyone who has made this possible - particularly to those of you who insisted on making Dads Matter Too, to all eleven of you who took part, and to Jackie who filmed us and put it together so well.

The Awards evening was even more nerve wracking than we anticipated because we were the very last group to be announced as Award winners. Marcus gave a short, but memorable, speech outlining the impact that he feels that U-Too has had on his life. A considerable number of people came up to him afterwards to say how moved they had been by what he said.

1 Are we going to get an Award? 2 Tamsin Greig hands it over ... 3 Marcus telling 'em like it is

4 Mike trying to do the same ... 5 Later with Simon and Tamsin ... 6 Max is proud of his dad

Steven and Chris in Swindon, and Chris in Calne with the trophy

Karl hard at work

Well Done!!

2009-07-02T20:38:00.003+01:00

Well done! Fantastic news from the CSJ awards:

'This year’s award attracted nearly 400 nominations from across the country, with 13 projects shortlisted by a panel of independent judges.

The seven winners, announced on the night were: Nelson Trust, Working Rite, Blue Sky, Chance UK, Young Disciples, U Too, and SOS Gangs Project at the St Giles Trust.'

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/default.asp?pageRef=37

and photos at:

http://www.johncairnsphotography.co.uk/CSJ_Awards_09/large-46.html

blog visitors

2009-06-27T23:51:00.005+01:00

Thought it's time for an update on the blog's visitors...
according to google analytics, which I registered the blog with a couple of months after it was started, and which is quite a strict 'countng' system:
1 122 different individual people have visited the blog. The average time spent on the blog is 2:39 mins. and the average is 2.02 page views - not bad considering there's upto 20 posts on each page. People from 53 differnt countries have come onto the blog!
The longest active visit recorded was someone in Jan08 who spent over 32 minutes on the blog. Just this month alone (June 09) 138 individual people have visited the blog, looking at 306 pages, and spending over 2 minutes on average.

How everyone looks now

2009-06-16T16:35:00.019+01:00

It's about time we posted some up-to-date photos of everyone so you can see how gorgeous you all are.
1 2 3
1 Mark and the long-suffering Nickolas
2 Lisa and Den with a very happy Max
3 Chris with a less-than-cheerful McKenzie
4 5 6
4 Brett and April with Kailum and Harvey
5 Pat (after a hard day's work!) with Tash and Harvey
6 Congratulations to Josh and Terri on the arrival of Alexia
7 8 9
7 Dan, Zuzu and Henley-Jai
8 Tash and Lee with Leo sleeping off his feed
9 Anthony and Chelsey with Leila
101112
10 Marcus and Charlotte with Harley
11 Ben and Georgia with Joshua James
12 Aurora and Will with Connor, another new arrival
13
13 At home with Stuart, Leia and Jess

14 And last, and at last, Steven with Jamie

Young Mums To Be

2009-06-12T11:34:00.002+01:00

Although this blog is focussed on U-Too's work with young dads-to-be, this work would not have started without the foundation of our work with young mums-to-be. The quality of this has always been of a very high standard and this is reflected in a recent External Verifier's report on behalf of the NCFE:

"... learners ... continue to praise and value the support they receive from U-Too and the opportunities now open to them. U-Too has, over the years, developed very effective teaching and additional assessment resources and demonstrated their commitment to their continuing professional development and best practice."

So this an opportunity to acknowledge the work of Carolyn and Gail over the last six years, as well as that of our current team of tutors, Alison, Jayne, Lesley, Sue and Zoe.

Centre for Social Justice filming

2009-06-12T10:42:00.012+01:00

Our CSJ contact, Juliette, arranged for a cameraman to visit us again so Murray, and his sidekick, Toby, came to Wiltshire on Tuesday. The idea was to put together a 'story' about U-Too that will be shown at the Awards Ceremony on 1st July. So here's Murray at Bridge House in Trowbridge making life interesting for members of the Young Mums To Be course, Rebekah, Roxanne and Lynda, together with tutor Jayne.

When that ordeal was over Murray and Toby went over to the Rachel Fowler Centre in Melksham so that they could film Will and Aurora, who were interviewed by Juliette. This was a bit special because both Aurora and Juliette are 'expecting', Aurora next week and Juliette in 5 weeks' time, so they had plenty to talk about.

Having finished filming on Tuesday, Murray and Toby were back again yesterday to film Den and Lisa at their place in Swindon. This proved a bit of a challenge as Max had decided views about his willingness to be an actor. All this effort was for a 90 second (very) short and I'd like to thank all the interviewees and Jayne for their patience in dealing with Murray's needs.

Primary Care '09

2009-05-21T09:28:00.003+01:00

I was asked to speak to a scarily large number of people, mainly midwives, at this conference at the NEC yesterday. I asked Jackie to put together a short DVD using clips from Dads Matter Too. So the audience of 800 (!!) saw Chris, Karl, Brett, Marcus and Lisa talking about the experiences they'd had at the hands of the maternity services. As this was mainly about how they felt excluded, this was challenging material for the audience, but several people came up to me afterwards to say how much they'd appreciated the presentation.

Centre for Social Justice

2009-05-21T08:58:00.001+01:00

Juliette left three invitations for us to attend the Awards evening in London on 1st July. The CSJ expect the boss to attend, so that's Carolyn; a worker, that's me; and a dad. Which is a bit of a problem. How to decide who should go? But having talked it over with Den, Mark, Brett, Steven, Chris and Chris, everyone agreed that Marcus should have first option because he was unable to attend the Prince's Trust Celebrate Success evening back in November. He's had to check that he can get time off work and told me yesterday that he can. So that's the team that will be going.

It would be fantastic if we turned out to be one of the Award winners as we would use the money to rewrite the young dads-to-be course with the help of an accrediting body like ASDAN. This would mean that organisations using it might have a better chance of drawing down funds to run it. But looking at the other shortlisted groups on the CSJ website, we're up against strong opposition so we must be realistic about our chances of winning. Being on the shortlist itself is a great achievement.

Fatherhood Institute

2009-05-15T15:56:00.008+01:00

A major case study of U-Too has been written up and can be found at

http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/index.php?id=13&cID=910

More good news

2009-05-13T13:57:00.004+01:00

U-Too is on a short list of 13 organisations out of 335 that applied for an award from the Centre for Social Justice. This feels like a major achievement and we can all feel really proud. Juliette Ash from the CSJ came to Swindon last week to check us out. She met several of the young mums-to-be who had just completed their YMTB course in Swindon, together with Lesley Hogg, their tutor. Brett and April came into the Link Centre office, together with Harvey and Kailum, and then Mike took Juliette off to see Den, Lisa and Max over at Pembroke Park. The young parents talked about their experience of U-Too's courses and were photographed and filmed by John, who came with Juliette. Three of us have been invited the Awards ceremony in London on 1st July, when the 6 winners of the 2009 Awards will be announced. Details of the other short-listed organisations can be found at:

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/default.asp?pageRef=296

London Conference

2009-04-13T18:49:00.002+01:00

The conference took place at the Voluntary Sector Resource Centre in Holloway, London last Wednesday. Its title was Supporting Young Fathers: more promising practice and over 80 people attended. I gave a quick run through about U-Too and its development and then we ran a couple of workshops. We split ourselves into three sets of presenters: Lee and Pat, Mark and Lisa, and myself. We split the workshop participants into three, and each spent 20 minutes with each group during the hour-long workshop. One of the participants has since emailed me and asked me to "Please pass on my regards to the team, they were excellent in providing an insight into the life of a young father and how they have/are benefiting from the work that you do."

Lee was supposed to represent young fathers-to-be but Tash gave birth to Leo three weeks early!

Jeremy Davies from the Fatherhood Institute was at the conference and introduced the FI's resource pack, Invisible Fathers: Working with young dads. Not only does it contain our DVD but also lots of photos of U-Too dads with their children. We're a bit chuffed. He has given us a complimentary copy but I'm hoping to persuade him to let us have enough copies to give to each of the dads whose photos appear in the pack.

Two new arrivals

2009-04-05T21:47:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Anthony and Chelsey on the birth of Leila and to Paddy and Tash on the birth of Harley. Both mothers and babies are doing well, and both fathers look pretty good to!

More from the Arts

2009-03-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

There's more in the arts about Dads Matter Too this month.

Jackie was interviewed as a case study for ENYAN's e-newsletter and website this month.
So of course Dads Matter Too was one of the 'interesting projects' to talk about!

ENYAN is the 'English National Youth Arts Network' and the site has lots of useful info on youth arts projects, events & advice. You have to login to access the site - but it's free to use.

https://www.enyan.co.uk/article/show/7054

London Conference

2009-03-23T18:41:00.002Z

Because there's been a good take-up of places at the conference, the TSA has asked us to run a workshop as well as give a presentation. Mark has agreed to join the team so there'll now be 5 of us travelling up to London a fortnight tomorrow. Just got to find a place to stay!

London Conference

2009-03-08T11:52:00.006Z

The Trust for the Study of Adolescence is running a conference on 8th April: Supporting Young Fathers - More Promising Practice. We're running one of the sessions. This will involve a quick run through of U-Too's work and the way in which it supports young fathers; the benefits to them, their partners and children; and a look at one section of Dads Matter Too. Lee, Patrick and Lisa will help me with the presentation. More details can be found on the TSA website.

Dads Matter Too in the arts

2009-03-03T23:59:00.005Z

Dads Matter Too was selected as one of 7 community arts projects presented to the Wiltshire Community Arts Network tonight. In only 5 minutes Jackie had a lot to say... just time to wave the calendar and DVD at everyone!
Afterwards another artist/presenter came up and said she'd heard about Dads Matter Too on the national news a while back, and immediately googled the blog as she thought it was such a great project! Small world!
She also said she thought Dads support/courses like U-Too's dads-to-be should be available through every GP - good idea!
And very nice to hear it's all going on out there...

Three new links - there's something for everyone here!

2009-02-23T19:13:00.004Z

Details about the new Fatherhood Institute Working With Young Fathers Resource Pack can be found at:
http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/index.php?id=13&cID=871
The pack will be available next month and we're particularly proud that our DVD is included in it. This will explain Jackie's 2000 DVDs post last week.

The second link can be found on the Community Care website at:
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2009/02/23/110756/supporting-young-fathers.html
Here you'll find that I succumbed to the urge to set down what passes for the wisdom I've accumulated during my work with young fathers-to-be.

And finally, but by no means least, JJ has asked me to put her Bebo link on the blog so that people can see it and add to it. So here it is:
http://www.bebo.com/dadsmatter2

Please take a look at whichever one takes your fancy, or all three if you have the time.

2000 DVDs

2009-02-17T08:58:00.001Z

Here's the first of a new order of 2000 DVDs...

BBC News at Ten

2009-02-14T11:57:00.003Z

Yesterday afternoon, in the wake of the media furore over the 13 year old father, we were asked by the BBC to put up a young dad for a News at Ten interview. The problem with going along with this sort of request is that you have no control over the story's angle. The truth is that many young parents find life difficult, and for a variety of reasons. Given the nature of some of these, News at Ten would not be the right arena to air these. Chris and I discussed what might be involved and he felt he could handle the interview.

Young Fathers Working Group

2009-02-13T10:42:00.002Z

Den and Mark went to the Connexions office in Theatre Square, Swindon, yesterday to meet with Swindon's Strategic Manager for Teenage Pregnancy and one of her Children's Centre colleagues. They were there to help the Borough establish a better understanding of a young father's experience in Swindon - the best bits, what's been hard, what's helped most, what could have been more helpful. They were both very open and honest about their experiences and gave the professionals a real insight into some of the very real difficulties they face.

Teenage pregnancy and the cultural sector

2009-02-06T11:35:00.003Z

This week's snow brings joy to some, sadness to others. We feel both. Yesterday Brett and April were out building a snowman with Harvey, Den and Lisa were doing the same with Max. Today Brett and Lisa should have been going down to Bridgwater with Steven and Marcus to help me run a session at a seminar jointly organised by the Government Office South West and Culture South West. Brett and Marcus had both arranged to be off from work today but instead of talking about their experiences making the film and getting their Bronze Arts Awards, they are probably building more snowmen. Art of a different kind. We had obtained 100 copies of Swindon's Artsmad magazines to distribute to seminar participants, complete with Steven's story and Lisa's photograph of Marcus at Tate Modern. So if anyone would like a copy let me know!

BBC 1 Politics Show

2009-01-28T12:07:00.004Z

Lee was the only dad among a panel of mums and mums-to-be. Brave man. The panel was put together to discuss Government plans to give all pregnant women a grant of £190 and to discuss the plans of the other major political parties to support families. Both Lee and Tash contributed to the discussion but Lee was disappointed not to be able to talk about support for young dads-to-be.

Early Years

2009-01-22T21:41:00.002Z

Not all of us know that the Department for Children, Schools & Families publishes a magazine called Early Years. We do now because Chris has been interviewed for a piece about young fathers. We'll post more information when the article is published.

BBC 1 Politics Show

2009-01-22T21:34:00.002Z

Tash and Lee from Warminster spent Wednesday morning in a TV studio in Bristol. U-Too was asked if any of 'our' young mums-to-be would be prepared to be part of a panel which would discuss Government plans for supporting expectant mums. Tash agreed and she and Lee were taxied over to Bristol and back. The programme goes out at midday on Sunday. Lee was frustrated that he couldn't say anything about young dads-to-be so he says he'll try to interest the programme's producer in a new programme!

Another milestone!

2009-01-16T17:54:00.001Z

We've now sent out 300 copies of the DVD to nearly 150 different organisations. Great stuff, you guys!

2009-01-13T21:23:00.004Z

Chris and Laura contacted the Gazette & Herald just before Christmas to see if the newspaper would be interested in a story about them and the Community Impact Award. And here's the result - with Cameron admiring the trophy but Saskia more interested in the photographer. The following week the newspaper published a letter from a reader expressing her dismay that the paper "gave such prominence to the, apparently, unmarried teenagers who ... decided to have a child and then another."

The letter continued in a similar vein and serves as a reminder of the strong feelings about teenage pregnancy held by, not only the reader, but probably by many more people as well. It also serves as a reminder that, if you stick your head above the parapet, someone might try to whack it. I reckon the risk is worth it. So, well done Chris.

The missing twosome

2008-12-10T10:47:00.008Z

Chris and Marcus couldn't attend the Celebrate Success event in Bristol last month. Chris was unable to get time off from his college course and Marcus failed to persuade his boss to give him time off work, mainly because he needed to take time off for Harley's operation the following week. The op was successful - big relief. So here are pictures of both proud dads with the Trophy, Chris with Mckenzie and Marcus with Harley.

Our friends like the calendar!

2008-12-09T15:17:00.009Z

Here's some feedback:

"Thank you so much for the amazing calendar you have produced - I feel so honoured to be a recipient."

"Thank you very much for the wonderful Dads Matter Too calendar. It is taking pride of place."

"Thank you .... so much for the calendar - it's really inspiring. We will put it up in the office so all our visitors will be able to see it too!"

"I was so impressed with the images on the Dads Matter Too calendar - I just wish you guys did a leaflet too!"

"I've just seen the 2009 Dads Matter Too Calendar, and I just wanted to let you know I think it's beautiful."

"... thank you so much for the 'Dads Matter Too' calendar which I think is absolutely brilliant ... I think everything about it is really excellent, photos, quotes, quality of print, format - wow!"

"... a tribute to the young dads involved in its production. These guys are so aware and keen to establish lasting and strong relationships with their children – a wake up call to all of us showing just what these dads can do given the right opportunities and support ..."

And I know someone who decided they wanted to display all the pictures at the same time so the calendar is no more but they now have a rogues gallery of young dads on their office wall.

Photo in new Arts Award booklet

2008-11-30T12:08:00.008Z

This picture of Marcus was taken by Lisa during the trip to see street art at Tate Modern in the summer. Here 's the photo as used in the new version of the Arts Award silver booklet for young people...

9 Dads and Mums achieved bronze awards in the summer ( go to blog archive to see posts and pictures from the visit and the award).

Travel for the trip was funded by the Arts Award Access fund, and this is one of the photos sent in with the funding report. Bayford Arts is the name of Jackie's Arts Award centre, through which we took part.

Nice to see Lisa's photo inspiring lots of other young people around the country working towards their awards!

Find out more about the Arts Award at http://www.artsaward.org.uk/

'Behind the Scenes' of the news interview

2008-11-26T11:25:00.002Z

More from the Celebrate Success evening, 'behind the scenes' the Dads being interviewed for ITV news.

Getting Seen

2008-11-26T10:48:00.002Z

The DVD trailer, on YouTube and on the blog, has been seen over 200 times, including 9 times from USA and 2 times from Canada.

'Google Analytics' reckons the blog has been seen by over 516 different people, mainly from the UK but also from USA, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium and Spain. The average time people look at the blog is 3 minutes - so hopefully they're finding it interesting! It seems so, as 686 more visits are by returning visitors. There's a steady, growing stream of new people visiting the blog each week.

The counter on the blog, added a month or so after it started, shows 3611 today - that's the number of times pages from the blog have been looked at!

About half the blog's visitors come direct, others come through links from websites including fatherhoodinstitute.net, youngfather.net, jackiecalderwood.com, sparksite.co.uk and bbc.co.uk.

Whilst I've got my 'numbers' head on, the Dads Matter Too myspace has had 73 views, and the music tracks have been played 35 times!

A Few More Photos...

2008-11-24T11:07:00.009Z

Celebrating Success!

2008-11-22T08:28:00.004Z

Here are, reading from left to right, Mark, Steven, Rob, Brett, Gareth, John, Den, Karl and Chris at the Bristol Marriott last Wednesday night. Smart, or what! Looking proud and happy. You bet! And every right to be so. They had just won the Award they'd been shortlisted for. It was just a pity that Marcus couldn't get time off work and Chris couldn't get time off from his college course to be there and join in the celebrations. Den met Theone, another Award winner, who was so impressed with Den's lyrics that he offered to record him. So who knows where this will lead. A great evening.

Video: Community Impact Award Winners...

2008-11-21T23:46:00.004Z

Celebrating Success on ITV News

2008-11-20T23:56:00.003Z

Dads Matter Too won the Prince's Trust SW Community Impact Award - presented at the Celebrate Success reception in the Marriott Hotel, Bristol last night. Fantastic!
The Dads were filmed receiving the award and interviewed afterwards for ITV news, broadcast thisevening.

Watch the news item on the link below (let the 30 seconds advert finish playing, then watch or forward the news - Celebrate Success and Dads Matter Too starts at 14:35):
http://www.itvlocal.com/west/news/?player=WST_News_15&void=260481

More photos and video of the evening to follow...

Screenshots from news item at http://www.itvlocal.com/west/news/ on 20th November 2008

In the News with Swindon Artsmad

2008-11-07T19:26:00.003Z

We're in the news again - in the winter 08-09 newsletter from Artsmad.

You can download the newsletter from:
http://www.artsmad.org.uk/

Calendar - Second Print Run

2008-11-04T17:34:00.006Z

Jackie's just completed the artwork for a second print run of the calendar, with revisions.

here are the new look front cover and back label:

Getting ready for Bristol

2008-10-30T21:17:00.005Z

Steven, Den, Brett and Mike were interviewed today in Swindon Foyer for a short film which will be shown at the Celebrate Success evening in Bristol next month. Marcus has just started a new job and can't get time off work because he already needs to take four days leave the following week when Harvey goes for his operation - at last. So he won't be able to go. Great shame, because he was the lead applicant for The Prince's Trust grant for the film workshops.

YouTube clip

2008-10-21T10:44:00.002+01:00

The clip that Jackie put on YouTube has now had over 100 views. It's a start! A couple of positive posts have been left:

"You've arrived - on YouTube. Great stuff. I hope you realise how much impact your DVD has and will have for young dads in the country. Well done and thanks a million."

"Nice DVD lads well put together, tune's nice too. Good to see something about dads for a change."

Another milestone

2008-10-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

Over 200 copies of the DVD have now been sent out. John has 'sold' 7 so he's winning!

News from My Space

2008-09-27T08:32:00.001+01:00

ManCub would like to be added to our MySpace friends list. He says "you guys are utter heroes. . good luck."

We've made the shortlist

2008-09-19T17:28:00.002+01:00

We have been shortlisted for a Community Impact Award and have been asked to attend a Prince's Trust Celebrate Success evening at the Bristol Marriott on 19th November. However there are some problems. Partners are not included because their names did not appear on the nomination paper. My fault, I'm afraid, but I didn't think there'd be a problem. And children won't be able to go. Transport is also going to be a challenge as group members have to travel from Swindon, Calne, Melksham, Southampton and Paignton. So some sorting out is needed before we go.

Dads Music on MySpace!

2008-09-12T18:13:00.003+01:00

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=412954029

The two tracks recorded for the DVD are now up on myspace, click the link above to go and have a listen!

Trailer on You Tube

2008-09-11T16:58:00.008+01:00

Just finished - a short (2:45) trailer with extracts from the DVD. There's a copy here on the blog (top left of main page). The idea for this came from another Dad's information website, so hopefully they'll add a link to the trailer and more people will get to hear about the film. If you want to add the trailer to your website or blog just get in touch or leave a comment. Or if there are other videos it'd be good for us to add as links, let me know...

The Dads Matter Too Calendar 2009

2008-09-11T16:37:00.007+01:00

The calendar's gone off to print. Most of the photos were taken by Terri back in the (sunny!) day(s?) of summer. All the Dads chose words of wisdom to share their thoughts on being a Dad. Jackie's put it all together (a couple of times, as print costs were higher than expected, so a different format was needed..) and it's ready to order with plenty of time for Christmas! Phew!

Happy New Year!

Watch this space for costs/how to order.

Preview of sample pages below...

Wiltshire Young Parents' Guide

2008-09-10T07:52:00.003+01:00

Here's Stuart being interviewed by Jane Morgan in Melksham yesterday. Jane is the Supporting Young Parents Project Worker based in Chippenham and is updating Wiltshire's Young Parents Guide. Stuart agreed to be a 'young dad case study' for the Guide. Good for you, Stu!