As I have been preparing things to write about in these blogs, it has become evident that I am actually starting to write a book. My journalist friends - particularly some of the Agony Aunts I am working with in the Kids in the Middle campaign - tell me I should resist the blogging for a while and focus on the book instead. So that is what I am going to do. Producing a blog a week is both fun and keeps me on my toes, so I look forward to returning to regular pieces in about a month’s time. In the meantime, doubtless I will occasionally be provoked into outbursts by stories in the media!
Personal
my news
In February I am leaving the Fatherhood Institute. I have, along with two others among the founders, been with the organisation for nine years. We started off marginal, obscure and mistrusted and now the Institute has been recognised as a positive influence. As with other organisations I have created in the past, it is now time for me to move on to do what I do best – make new things happen.
I am setting out now to do three things in this same field.
- I would like to help some larger statutory organisations and children’s organisations to develop work on fatherhood and childhood, particularly around the issues where little progress has been made in the last ten years. There are things that the Fatherhood Institute has not been able to achieve that other organisations could. I will be offering my services to these organisations in the coming years.
- I want to create a new national campaign of health professionals, children’s organisations, parenting organisations and equality organisations to bring about a new “family friendly” culture in maternity and health visiting services. I believe the way mothers and fathers are channelled in such different directions as soon as a baby is born in the UK is a fundamental cause of family breakdown, gender inequality and weak father-child relationships.
- I will continue to manage www.dad.info, a service that offers parenting information to fathers directly, instead of the current focus of almost all parewnting information only on mothers. I will work with the Dad Info team to expand the distribution of materials to every maternity unit and every Children’s Centre in UK.
Fatherhood
my news
The OBE was awarded “for services to children”. I was given it for my work as CEO of the Fatherhood Institute and in response to the success of the organisation in helping to establish a new child-focused narrative about fatherhood in British policy and politics.
The success of the Institute has arisen from a once-in-a-lifetime team of people, several of whom are nationally acknowledged experts in their fields. I don’t believe in individual achievement – the best things happen when the right team of people come together.
Although I am grateful for the recognition of the work done so far, I feel I have hardly started making a real difference for children. In later blogs I will outline what I think still needs to be done. I hope this OBE can help to push forward the work another small step.
Fatherhood
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