Hansard

I congratulate Gordon MacDonald on introducing this debate and welcome the representatives of Dads Rock to the gallery.

As Gordon MacDonald has already told us, Dads Rock is the brainchild of Thomas Lynch and David Marshall, who are fathers. While bringing up their young children in Sighthill, they noticed how little there was by way of resources that were tailored specifically towards fathers. Their first playgroup, which was started just over a year ago, in 2012, sought to rectify that situation. Over the past year, they have opened a second playgroup for fathers in Granton, and planning is under way for a third facility in Fife to be run in conjunction with Fife Gingerbread. I was pleased to mention that in the recent debate on Fife Gingerbread; the minister talked about it then as well, of course.

I should remind people that Granton is in my constituency. I regret that Dads Rock meets on Saturday mornings, because that coincides exactly with my weekly surgeries. I have therefore been unable to attend its meetings. However, who knows? If it met at another time, I might even bring along one of my grandchildren, if that was allowed.

After a little research into the relatively short history of Dads Rock, it is very easy to find positive testimonies from mothers as well as fathers. I want to quote two mothers. One said:

“my partner and daughter just returned from Dad’s rock—and had a ball. I think my daughter was a bit overwhelmed at first being her first time with daddy in a new place, but he said she got right into it in the end, and everyone had fun. Thanks so much dad’s rock!”

The other mother said:

“My son absolutely loves this group especially playing the drums and rocking out with his friends on the guitars! And its great that he gets some 1-2-1 time with his Dad while I get 2 hours to myself!”

It is clear that the main advantage is to the children and fathers, but it is also a great advantage to mothers. It is in the interests of mothers and, indeed, women in general that fathers get more involved in childcare. I am sure that we all support that objective, which is exactly the objective that Dads Rock is trying to promote.

The ambition of the two enterprising fathers has not slowed over the past year. The children enjoy regular visits into the community—for example, a trip was recently organised to the national museum of Scotland, where a group of 30 children and 25 fathers enjoyed making masks, telling stories and taking part in a raucous song time.

As Gordon MacDonald told us, music and creativity feature highly in the priorities of Dads Rock. Music is one way of improving emotional development and the intellect. The organisation has indicated that it will launch a scheme in October this year that will ensure free tuition for children and fathers through a new Dads Rock academy that is to be based at the Edinburgh College Sighthill campus. Many children go through their school years without access to one-to-one tuition, so such a facility could help to spark their interest in taking up an instrument and gaining a lifelong skill. As Thomas and David stated in their recent blog post:

“The benefits of Kids learning music are well known, it improves social skills, increases confidence, helps them to focus, helps the brain to develop”.

What better way to do that than in an encouraging academic environment, with the children’s fathers on hand to take part and cheer on their successes?

The academy will offer free weekly music tuition to local children aged five to 16 years, and it will be open to kids and dads from Edinburgh and the surrounding area. It will offer places to roughly 10 to 15 children and their fathers, and will offer a free musical instrument as well as weekly tuition. The college will provide the facilities and the tutors will come from its student body, which will benefit students who are studying music in further education. Participation in the academy will become part of the curriculum and will add another dimension to the students’ CVs. Best of all, at the end of term in June, the students will stage a show for families and friends, which will allow them to showcase the skills that they have learned and provide an opportunity for them to receive the praise and encouragement that they need to keep going.

My time is now up. The amazing amount that the two fathers and the wider group have achieved in less than two years is clear to everyone. I wish them well in all the ventures that they undertake, congratulate them on what they have done, and repeat my congratulations to Gordon MacDonald.

17:14