The General Election

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

A Merry Christmas to all our readers!

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'

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!

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

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