Every other Saturday - a new project for young fathers
by Sharon Titus (Project Coordinator)
20 July 2010
The EoS (Every other Saturday) project aims to act as a support system for young fathers, targeting but not exclusively for young fathers from the BME community. EoS will help the fathers and the wider community as a whole, offering parental workshops, relationship / safer sex information, peer support and mentoring training. The focus of the project will be to create and help support the fathers sustain a welcoming and relaxing environment at the MAPP centre, as well as a support network for fathers to start or to continue to interact with their children if they are unable to do that in a home environment. EoS will strive to promote the benefits of having fathers involved in their children’s lives not just for the individual families but for the entire community by providing the fathers with workshops and courses that will empower them to make informed choices for themselves, their children and the community.
The project will concentrate on three main points, those are:
Relationships: Father to child Will look at what difficulties if any, the father has in ensuring they play a significant role in being a parent to their child? Help improve and develop parenting skills, raise child safety and risk awareness and encourage ideas for sharing as a family, etc Father to father: Investigate young BME father’s relationships with their own fathers or father figures and how (and if) this influenced the type of fathers / men they have become. Were there difficulties in forming this initial relationship? Has this affected other relationships with other men? Father to community: How young BME fathers are viewed by their peers, parents and partners in their communities and in the media and society at large. What is that view and does it affect the relationships they have with them? Should it be challenged? And what support would they like to have and from whom (parents/community/School/college/peers/etc.?)
Healthy Lifestyles: Daddy ‘n’ me Investigates the benefits of active play and exercise especially for the father and child to take part in together and looks at ideas and the impact they can have on a long and healthy life. Tai chi relaxation techniques will be incorporated Here and Now Looks at sexual topics such as how they have come to be a teenage parent? Was there peer pressure, was it planned? How are they trying to ensure that they do not have an unwanted pregnancy? Do they know how and where to access free birth control in Reading? Cookery lessons Soul for Life will be providing cookery lessons for two groups of 6 students per session on Saturday afternoons with each group attending for 3 sessions. Each session will last approximately one hour and will cover preparation of one “Meal for Under a Fiver.”
Evadney UK Peer Support This section of the EoS project will strive to tutor the young fathers in the best way to present themselves to, Nursery or school teachers, housing officials, other fathers and men or anyone they may need to talk to in regards to themselves or their child’s well being. This course is accredited and will deal with issues facing young men ranging from individual one on one support to identified mental health issues. Other topics such as time management, CV writing and debating techniques will also be included. Another external organisation will also be providing a two day back to work course covering issues such as interview techniques. This is a pilot scheme and as such places are limited. We have accommodated for twelve fathers to take part in the project due to start Sept 2010. Self referrals or organizations are able to refer the young men onto the project and our executive committee will make the final decision. We will be working with a number of organisations to deliver the project such as Evadney UK; who will be providing the fathers with an accredited parenting course and Soul 4 life who will be delivering a cookery course to name but a few.
The fathers will also be working with a local film production team over the twelve month period to document and face the issues surrounding them as young fathers.
For further details please contact Sharon on 0118 9168410 or email
sharon@mappartnership.org.uk
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