Summer is here! Time to dig out the flip-flops and sunscreen - but before you do let us ease you into to holidays with some: inspiration for a playful holiday; news about our dads survey; how we marked International Fathers Mental Health Day & info on our new resource and learning hub.
Summer Family Adventure
We know it can be tricky to come up with fun things to do with kids over the summer that don’t cost the earth. That’s why we created a themed adventure packs for each week of the holidays to help little-ones and their parents Splash, Munch, Journey and Go Wild together - which you can FIND HERE
Each pack has been developed to help families with young children, learn, read and most importantly, have fun together, and includes:
- Activities the whole family can get get involved with like minibeast hunts, a submarine adventures or growing crazy cress heads. We made sure that all the activities are very low-cost or free.
- Books to read together. We’ve teamed up with the Scottish Book Trust and used the Bookbug and Read, Write, Count books to inspire each adventure.
- Useful links and tips. To help grown-ups get the most of each weeks adventure we compiled a list of some of our favourites resource.
Dads Survey 2022
For the last month we have been asking dads across Scotland to tell us how they are doing. We have been blown away by the support we have received from the community who have shared and liked our posts, and the dads who have taken time out of there busy lives to fill in the survey.
We have now closed the survey and will be crunching the numbers over the summer holidays and let you know the results in September - so keep your eyes peeled.
International Fathers' Mental Health
A new Canadian study has shown that almost 1 in 4 new dads suffer from comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms in the first year after baby was born. That could mean 10,000 new dads and families being affected in Scotland every year.
In 2018 when we started getting involved in Paternal Mental Health there was very little understanding or provision for supporting new-dads mental health. Four years on and some great progress has been made. Public and third sector organisations, and practitioners, across parts of Scotland have been changing what they do to help new-dads get the support they need when they need.
Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been at the forefront of this positive movement, with fantastic initiatives and partnerships developed by Home-Start Glasgow North & South, Dads Rock, The Queen Elizabeth Neonatal Unit and the West of Scotland Mother & Baby Unit. Work has also been happening at a more systemic level within the Infant Mental Health Team & Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Midwives Team to name but a few.
On the 20th June we marked International Fathers Mental Health Day by holding DADx event “Supporting New Dads Mental Health in Greater Glasgow & Clyde”. We were joined by an exceptional panel of practitioners and leaders from across the sector who showcase work being done throughout the health board and considered how to build on this success . If you missed it don't worry we will soon be posting a recording of the event on our Youtube channel HERE and are planning another event in the autumn to move the conversation forward.
Our New Resource and Learning Hub
For the past 6 months We have been developing a new dynamic resource & learning hub to help professionals understand, include and support dads and whole families. The hub's relaxed space is designed specifically for busy professionals to gain inspiration, share expertise and access essential knowledge and resources. We will be testing the platform and our new Understanding Dad e-learning taster course over the summer - so if you would like to help us test out our new virtual home please sign up to the hub and we will get in touch about joining our beta testing team.