We work with a wide range of organisations across Scotland to help them support dads. You might be:
- A parent or guardian who is looking for resources or a service near to where you live.
- A perinatal health professional requiring information to support new dads and our Understanding Paternal Mental Health training.
- A service provider striving to be more father-friendly and inclusive, for whom we offer our Understanding Dad training and resources.
- An employer exploring family-friendly working practices.
- Working within the police force or criminal justice system and supporting dads to stay in touch with their children.
- Working with dads and families within the third sector.
- An educator who is working to make a school more dad-friendly and father-inclusive.
- Or a policy-maker seeking consultation on parenting practices for dads as well as mums.
We offer a range of services including training, consultancy, events, research and media work. We’ve co-produced manuals for dads-to-be, given evidence to the equal opportunities committee of the Scottish Parliament, and organised the Year of the Dad – a nationwide celebration of fatherhood and the importance of fathers in child development and parenting. Help yourself to our resources, information and support and FNS research, or browse the FNS Directory and events listings.
We are currently focused on our Understanding Paternal Mental Health project, through which we work with perinatal health professionals to highlight the incidence of postnatal depression in new dads. We are still working digitally during the Covid-19 restrictions and you can find out about our current services here, which include our Dads' WhatsApp group, free SMS support service and Facebook group and DADx series of Zoom talks for professionals who work with dads and families.
Our friends and partners are as crucial in this endeavour as they have been from the very beginning of our organisational life. Inclusivity is key. We support mums as well as all dads (step-dads, gay dads, adoptive dads, kinship dads and of course grandads!) and prefer to focus less on fathers’ “rights” and more on children’s needs.
Together we believe that by welcoming and actively encouraging fathers to play their nurturing role, we are unlocking a vital asset in the health and wellbeing of our families, our communities and our society as a whole.
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If you're an organisation and would like to register in our directory, you can do so here.
Father Friendly Schools
Want to make your school more father-inclusive? Help is at hand with these great resources.
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FNS Covid-19 Response
Fathers Network Scotland's work is continuing across Scotland as we respond to increased demand for our support. In response, our projects and team continue to use a variety of innovative methods to maintain contact with our network offering support and resources.
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