Children in Wales carries out a range of work relating to fathers. This section outlines why this work is important, our position statement on fathers and the work of the Fatherhood Wales Forum.
For the majority of men, becoming a father is one of the most challenging, yet transformative, things they will ever experience. Services, traditionally designed to engage with mothers, are now increasingly coming to realise this fact, and acknowledge not only the changing role that men today are playing in family life, but the important input these individuals have in the lives of their children.
The rights and needs of the child should be seen as paramount in this work and supporting fathers needs to be seen within this context, as laid out in our Position Statement.
Children in Wales has taken the lead in promoting father involvement here in Wales since 2004, and now has a well established multi-agency network, Fatherhood Wales. The forum is open to all professionals currently working with fathers, or seeking to make their services more father friendly. Working with fathers is often very different to working with mothers, and this can present a challenge to services whose practice has traditionally revolved around supporting mothers.
To support this work, Children in Wales offer a range of training programmes, as well as more tailored consultancy designed around the needs of a particular service. We also act as a point of expert reference to academics and others looking to conduct research in this field.
For all media enquiries please contact: tony.ivens@childreninwales.org.uk
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