Hansard

I thank Gordon MacDonald for bringing this debate to Parliament, and I thank the members who have stayed here to show their support for Dads Rock.

It is nice to be able to welcome Dads Rock to Parliament again. I have been delighted to hear of its success and I congratulate it on winning internationally recognised awards.

As Gordon MacDonald said, Thomas Lynch and David Marshall created Dads Rock back in 2011 because they strongly believed then, as they still do, that dads can and do play a vital role in the upbringing of their children. I wholeheartedly support that view.

I know that most dads want to be fully involved in their children’s lives from day 1. I also know that, at times, some organisations and sectors, including schools, general practitioner surgeries, playgroups and parent and toddler groups, unintentionally make dads feel unwelcome or excluded. As, I am sure, Dads Rock advocates, it is time that that changed.

More and more dads are taking a principal role when it comes to raising their wee ones, often supported by organisations such as Dads Rock. My experience reflects that. I am lucky enough to have unwavering support from my husband when it comes to caring for and raising our wee boy, Angus. I will no doubt have that support when the next one comes along. I can confirm that this bump is a baby, and not the result of a poor campaign diet.

We know instinctively that fathers play an extremely important role in their children’s upbringing. We need to do all that we can do to support and encourage fathers’ involvement right from the start—from pregnancy through to birth, to the early years and beyond. I was at a Sense Scotland conference earlier this year, and one of the most beautiful things that I heard was how a father’s voice can get through to the baby in the womb much more easily than a mother’s voice can, because of the man’s deep bass tones. That is a lovely way in which a father can be involved in their partner’s pregnancy. We must encourage dads to get involved, from pregnancy and right through the child’s upbringing.

In our wide-ranging consultations of fathers and professionals across Scotland during the development of our national parenting strategy, we heard that many fathers did not feel engaged, valued or encouraged to be active and involved parents. What a waste that is. As a result of what we heard in the consultation, the parenting strategy that we launched in October 2012 acknowledged that fathers undeniably should be closely involved in their children’s lives at every stage.

As we continue to implement the strategy, we are working with a number of partners to look at how we can make services relevant and better able to involve fathers more positively in their children’s upbringing. We are looking at how the strategy fits with fathers and what we need to do listen effectively and respond positively to what dads want and need. I know that that is of particular interest to Christian Allard, given his personal interest and his work on the Equal Opportunities Committee.

Through that work, we plan to continue to ensure that services such as health and education and the third sector make dads feel welcome and included. For example, we are working alongside Children in Scotland to look at ways in which our public bodies can ensure more equal treatment of dads when it comes to parenting responsibilities. We are funding organisations such as Fathers Network Scotland to deliver practical support to people and organisations at the front line, who work every day with fathers and families in Scotland.

Working closely with Fathers Network Scotland, we co-chair the national fathers advisory panel, which meets throughout the year to consider how fathers can contribute to the development of policy and practice across the Government. We are constantly looking at how we can better engage dads; most recently, members of the panel have been helping us to restyle our “play talk read” website and our family information service website to ensure that they work in a way that speaks to dads.

That work is all very positive and there are many people and organisations who are working hard to meet the changing needs of families and fathers in Scotland, but we need to go further. We all need to think more broadly about how we portray fathers and how we can improve our interactions with them—how we celebrate them, which Christian Allard spoke about in his speech. Positive messaging about fathers is critical. The media, marketing, social norms, public attitudes and public services all have a role to play.

As Gordon MacDonald, Mary Scanlon and Christian Allard all said, good relationships and positive social networks are as important to fathers as they are to mothers. Indeed, I heard just today of a dad who has set up a new dad and toddler group in Barrhead, supported by the early years collaborative in East Renfrewshire, because he really wanted to provide an opportunity for local dads and their children to meet up, socialise, make new pals and support one other. Cara Hilton spoke of potential projects in Fife. Who knows? Perhaps the Highlands will be the next place on the map, as Mary Scanlon hoped for in her speech.

We need to see more such new initiatives supporting Scotland’s fathers and their children, and we will continue to work with members of the fathers advisory panel, including Dads Rock and Fathers Network Scotland, over the next few months to map the delivery of support groups for dads across the country. That will mean that we will better understand the provision and consider what else needs to be done to fill the gaps, encourage participation and widen access.

However, tonight’s debate is about celebrating Dads Rock and congratulating it on winning the most outstanding baby and toddler group category at the international What’s on 4 junior awards. It really is a great and much deserved achievement for such a young charity. Now in their eighth year, the awards celebrate the best activities, classes and party providers from all over the UK, as nominated and voted for by some 90,000 parents and carers. Congratulations also to Steve Leslie for winning the most outstanding community group volunteer for children and families. What an inspiration Steve is for us all. From across the Parliament, we want to say very well done indeed.

As Gordon MacDonald said, I have had the pleasure of visiting Dads Rock and I was fortunate to attend the opening of its Granton project. I was struck by its sense of fun and its dedication to promoting positive images of fatherhood.

As others have said, Dads Rock was set up by dads for dads, and its playgroups are positive, enjoyable and rocking places to be on a Saturday morning. Just as Cara Hilton’s husband and children enjoy themselves at Dads Rock in Dunfermline, my husband and my wee boy enjoyed themselves when they came with me to visit the project in Granton. I do not know whether Cara has had the chance to sing “We will rock you”, but I was glad that the boisterous singing drowned out my poor attempts at joining in. It was certainly incredible fun, and my husband and wee boy loved their time there—albeit that it was just a short time on a Saturday morning.

Dads Rock took part in the second learning session of the early years collaborative in the Scottish exhibition and conference centre in May of last year. That was a memorable occasion, not least because it had 800 people on their feet singing “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands”. There was also a serious side to Dads Rock’s participation, in that it shared how, uniquely in Scotland, it brings fathers and children together for fun, music, messiness and—most important—bonding and attachment.

Members should not just take my word for it. Feedback from the dads themselves is much more worthy of mention. Among their comments are that

“Saturday mornings are always about Dads Rock.”

“Saturday mornings are now daddy and daughter day”

and

“I look forward to Saturdays so I can catch up with other dads, and I feel comfortable speaking about dad/male issues with others.”

When asked to sum up Dads Rock in a few words, dads said that it was “a one-off”, that

“there’s nothing else like it,”

and that it is

“Unique, good laugh, good guys, great kids.”

Of course, someone else said that it is simply “rocking”.

I again thank Gordon MacDonald and the other members who have contributed to the debate. I also want to warmly thank Thomas, David, Steve and the rest of the team at Dads Rock for their continued and unstinting commitment to Scotland’s children and their fathers, and I wish them every success for the future.

Thank you, Presiding Officer.