Health & Wellbeing: A group for dads

Where can dads meet to chat about fatherhood – the challenges and the fun moments? While there are plenty of parenting support groups, both in person and online, they are often dominated by mothers, and it can still be tricky for men to find a place where they feel comfortable.

Father and TV presenter Nigel Clarke, whose work includes hosting The Baby Club on CBeebies, recognised this imbalance and founded the community interest company Dadvengers in 2019 with the aim of helping fathers to feel just as supported as mothers.

‘We did an all-dad episode of The Baby Club in the second series and the response we got on set from the producers, the people taking part and viewers was amazing,’ says Clarke. ‘It was great, but then I thought, hold on, this is only great because we don’t normally see it. So I researched what dad groups are out there and how welcoming they feel. The result was that there was not much dad stuff, and often the tone of what was there wasn’t right. It was slightly condescending and less empowering than it should be. Rather than an attitude of “let’s all work together so that we can be the best we can be”, it was much more, “Hey, you don’t know what you’re doing”.’