The Young Dads Collective #52DaysofDad

As Father’s Day is fast approaching i could think of no better time to team up with the Young Dads Collective to help promote their 52 Days of Dad campaign. The YDC have been releasing 52 exciting free and fun activities to do with children, one for every week of the year. There will be prizes for those families who take part in a number of activities!

For those of you that don't know, the Young Dads Collective are an award-winning consultancy programme that works to reduce levels of poverty and isolation experienced by young dads. They are part of the Family and Childcare Trust, the leading UK national charity in the field of policy, research and advocacy on childcare and family issues.

The YDC are launching the campaign #52DaysofDad. Its core mission is to raise awareness of young dads, 25 and under who are amongst the most isolated and economically deprived parenting groups in the UK.

So as a part of the campaign i have promised to share with you some of my fears and experiences of becoming a Father for the first time at the age of 24.

One thing i leant quickly about Fatherhood was that i often felt completely out of the loop. When you engage with the NHS 90% of the information if directed towards the mother. Whilst this is what you expect, you would think that in this day in age the role of Father, with the help and support they can offer, the NHS would provide a greater amount of information directly to the father as well.

As i worked out of town i often couldn't make the check-up appointments that my OH attended. So i often relied on my partner to provide me with the key facts. I often picked up the information she was given and within that information i very rarely remember seeing gender neutral advice. Which kind of wound me up and in part was the reason why i turned to social media to ask for help from other fathers.

It was my fondness of social media and the support of the parenting network on Twitter that pushed me to start my daddy blog. To share my experiences, the hard times and the bad.

I was one of the first ones out of my friends to have children, so i didn't really have other people to guide us through the experience. Yes we had close family who had children who helped us through, but it was hard for some of my friends to understand my new way of life.

One of the biggest things i never knew was the huge financial impact a baby can have on your life. Of course you have a rough idea of what to expect, but nothing can compare you for the hardship. We are both in good jobs and we still found it hard to cope at times. I think most young dads don't know how much it would cost to send a child to nursery for three days a week!

If like me you have questions, need support or want to show your support to other dads in a similar situations to you then please do visit the YDC:

#FathersDay is right around the corner. We’re planning something early and BIG. https://t.co/pk854d8D6B pic.twitter.com/zpavyqVlMG

— YoungDadsCollective (@YoungDadsCo) June 6, 2016