Hansard

I welcome to the gallery the members of Dads Rock and the group of dads who have come along for the debate. I declare an interest, as I am an unpaid trustee of the charity.

Dads Rock was formed in my constituency in 2012. Before we recognise the achievement of this small charity, we need to understand why it was necessary to start it in the first place.

In Scotland, more and more fathers are sharing or fulfilling the primary care role, which has resulted in a groundswell of recognition of the importance of working with dads to allow them to spend more time with their kids. The Working Families organisation has said:

“Fathers want to spend more time with their children, and are doing more of the direct care for them. Research suggests that this desire for more time with their family is widespread, with 82% of full time working men saying they would like this.”

The Fatherhood Institute has said that

“A substantial number of fathers are now full- or part-time ‘home dads’ ... Among fathers of under-fives, 21% are solely responsible for childcare at some point during the working week”

and

“43% of fathers of school-aged children provide care before/after school”.

A recent study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that 60 per cent of parents said that fathers should spend more time with their children. The research shows that higher direct involvement from dads leads to more positive outcomes for our children.

That is just some of the background to why Dads Rock was founded by two Edinburgh fathers, who came together to start something to help others and have fun with their kids at the same time. No equivalent service in Edinburgh was offered for fathers by the local council. Dads Rock was started to fill that gap and is now the only free weekend service that makes space for all sorts of dads, granddads and male carers to come and play with their children and develop a network of support from other fathers.

The founders had a good understanding of what dads wanted, as they were dads themselves, and they came up with a winning combination. A free musical playgroup fed into many people’s love of music and allowed dads to know that that common bond would make it an inviting place to come without judgment or pressure.

Over time, the Dads Rock team found that dads wanted more outings with their children, so it has increased the number of free outings, which has given dads the confidence to discover new places such as the national galleries or a city centre farm in a relaxed way to have fun with their kids and speak to other dads.

Dads Rock has now been going for two years. It is amazing to see the need for such an organisation grow. It has recently launched a Glasgow playgroup to support more families and it is working in partnership with the award-winning PEEK—possibilities for each and every kid—project in Glasgow, which provides vital street play for children.

Dads Rock has also built formal and informal relationships with a wide variety of organisations such as Fife Gingerbread, local midwifery and social work teams, the Pilton community health project, one parent family support, Stepping Stones Edinburgh, the Broomhouse Centre, the violence reduction unit and Whale Arts, to name but a few. It has also reached out to local schools and nurseries, had referrals from several social work teams, and worked with local health agencies to deliver specific messages on male health.

The feedback from all that activity clearly indicates that the Dads Rock service has had a positive impact on parents from a resilience point of view, improving attachments between children and parents, and expanding their social circle to allow new friendships and relationships to develop. Dads Rock is about promoting positive images of fathers and highlighting that dads want to be seen as being just as vital to their children’s upbringing. To get that message across, Dads Rock has built relationships with councillors, MSPs and the Scottish Government. Its influence is such that the Minister for Children and Young People herself opened one of its playgroups.

Dads Rock has become an advocate for dads and families and it has helped them have a voice at a local and national level. Dads Rock now sits on the Scottish Government’s fathers advisory panel as well as its young father panel and the Edinburgh council play forum. Through its success it has become an advocate for others to refer to; for example, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Book Trust and MSPs have all approached Dads Rock asking for assistance in engaging with dads.

That level of engagement and the development of the charity resulted in it winning one of its first awards in 2013 when families voted for Dads Rock to win a local parenting magazine award, called the parents choice award. Then, in June this year, the Dads Rock team was nominated for two national awards organised by the What’s on 4 little ones website. The awards were for the most outstanding toddler group and for the most outstanding volunteer. More than 90,000 votes were cast for all the nominees and Dads Rock was up against well-known national organisations but, despite that, it became the only dads group that went through to the final and one of the few groups representing Scotland.

One of the volunteers, Steve Leslie, had been nominated by local dads for the most outstanding volunteer award. Every week, he gave his time free of charge to set up the playgroup and pack everything away at the end of a hectic session; he served on the board of Dads Rock, produced CDs of the Dads Rock members singing with their kids and generally helped out where necessary. The Dads Rock delegates attending the event were astounded to win in both categories and, in true Dads Rock style, they led the 150-strong attendees in a singsong of “We will rock you”.

Congratulations to the Dads Rock team for all their hard work, and thanks to the families who voted for them, but especially thanks to the dads and their children who have made Dads Rock the success that it is.