Reaching out to Scotland's 'invisible dads'

The poster outside the WHALE arts agency, in Edinburgh's Wester Hailes, is the work of Dads Rock, a three-year-old community group formed with the aim of supporting proper bonding between dads and their children.

It calculates that there are some 400 new young dads - those aged up to 25 - in Edinburgh each year. But precious little, it believes, is being done to support them.

Even Dads Rock has difficulty in reaching out to them. It is now pinning its hopes on a new support project, funded by part of a £287,096 Big Lottery Fund grant.

Inside WHALE, meanwhile, its Saturday-morning playgroup for dads and their young kids is in full swing. The mostly thirtysomething dads watch their kids run round, play miniature drum-kits, kick footballs - having fun at the tops of their voices. As for dads aged under 25 - there is not much sign. Where are they? They're out there somewhere in the city just doing their thing on their own.

Dads Rock says that, while there are lots of young mums' services and groups, it's time that young dads were catered for just as generously.

"We run free playgroups in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and they're for all dads," says co-founder Thomas Lynch, a qualified counsellor and HR manager. "Young dads, old dads and male carers. But we noticed that there weren't any young dads coming. We looked around to see what services there were for them. We're aware there's only one other service in the city, in north Edinburgh. It's very good, and it works with young dads. But who else is supporting them?"

Across the UK there is some excellent work being done with young dads. One project in Leeds offers support for school-age fathers and links them to relevant services including career advice and schools. In London, there's the Young Dads Council, which sees its mission as reducing "the isolation and poverty many young fathers experience by making the UK young-dad-friendly". But in Scotland?

Dads Rock believes the situation up here is patchy. So far as he is aware, Lynch says, the NHS in Edinburgh runs only one dads' ante-natal group, in Livingston. The information given to dads is "basic, to say the least. NHS Family Practitioners support vulnerable young mums, but what is on offer for the young dads?

"When you talk to people about teenage pregnancy, they invariably talk about young mums, and all the work that goes on with them, which is obviously great, and obviously needed," adds Lynch, a father of one. "It just makes me slightly sad that we can't see the same extent of support being given to young dads."

There are lots of complex reasons for this. The focus in maternity services is "quite rightly on the mum, as she is the one giving birth. But the dad is there somewhere. Even if they're not together as a couple, the dad is still part of it, at some point. I just wonder, what kind of message are we sending when we focus just on the mums? We seem to be saying, we'll help the dads if they want it, but we won't make an effort to reach out to them."

Lynch spoke recently to someone who runs a project for young mums. 'Some young dads showed up, but the mums asked them to leave: they didn't want them there. So I said, 'Let us do something with them'." It's no wonder, he believes, that some of the young dads at the playgroups have talked about being left to one side by the NHS.

He emphasises that he is talking in general terms - "I have no doubt there are lots of fantastic young dads out there" - but, in the main, be believes, young dads need much more support.

Brock Lueck, Senior Children and Father's worker at One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), says more needs to be done to reach out to all single dads, young and old.

"Young dads are particularly hard to reach as they are less confident about their role as a father and less likely to engage with any help that is offered, and this is even more evident when the dad comes from a vulnerable family. It takes a determined and reasonably confident young father to push through the stigma and practical barriers but it can be done.

"In the experience of [OPFS] many single-parent fathers experience negative bias towards them from agencies that should be helping and supporting them, including teachers, job centre staff, and social workers. Their role as a father and their importance to children are questioned in a way in which mothers would never be."

Alex Cole-Hamilton, Head of Policy at Aberlour - Scotland's Children's Charity, said: "Dads have traditionally been overlooked in social policy development around parenting. Any research in terms of attachment shows that children who experience attachment trauma with the loss of one or both parents have demonstrably worse life outcomes. Dads are just as important in many ways as mums in terms of rounding a young person's development. Anything that can support young fathers who, demographically, are more likely to struggle, and are quite a vulnerable group anyway with higher risks of suicide and other social-lifestyle problems, should be supported."

Dads Rock's Big Lottery Fund grant means it can support an extra 180 dads and male carers via its free playgroups. New playgroups for dads have been set up, including one at West Lothian's Addiewell prison. It also runs social outings: today, for example, it's involved in a Father's Day Family Takeover at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

"I joined this playgroup pretty much from the beginning," says Michal Rusak, 35, who is at the playgroup with his children, Wiktoria, six, and two-year-old Max. "It's a great, simple idea and yet, when I started searching for it, I was deeply surprised that there was only one group like that.

"When my first child was born, I was slightly jealous, because my wife could attend groups, because she was on maternity leave, but there was nothing for dads. It plays an important part in my life, because I can come here on a Saturday and spend time with the kids. At the same time, my partner has spare time for herself. It helps to keep the balance - maybe not 50/50, but at least over the weekend." The dads bond at the playgroup. "I've met many dads, and we keep in touch outwith the group," adds Rusak, "because we can share the same experience."

Martin Blainey, 30, is here with his son Alfie, who'll be two in September. "It's nice and relaxed here. All the dads are keeping an eye on the kids. The activities we do away from here are great - we were at Tynecastle recently and are going to Murrayfield on July 4. There's nowhere apart from here, as far as I know, unless you want to go round someone's house ... It's good just to get a bit of dad experience."

The session ends with Lynch, in an Indian head-dress, leading the kids in such songs as The Grand Old Duke of York and Queen's We Will Rock You. The centre slowly empties as the dads leave with their kids and Lynch tidies up. It's been another good playgroup. If only the young dads knew what they were missing.

* http://www.dadsrock.org.uk/