The Dad’s Project is a support service offered by Home-Start Horizons. We recognise that Dads play an important role in their children’s lives and have often struggled to engage with services. We work directly with Dads to support them in their role as a father and aim to support them to have strong relationships with their children, to feel more confident in their role as a father, and to increase awareness of the range of services that are available to them.
The Dad’s project provides one-to-one support to support Dads with specific issues or challenges that they are facing, for example:
- Support to increase bonding or relationship with their children
- Support in managing my children's behaviour
- Peer support from other Dads in a similar situation
- Support to manage emotions or stress levels
- Support to manage self-esteem, relationships, or work-life balance
- Support to adjust to the changes that being a Dad brings
- Support with partners' mental health
- Information or advice needs around a specific topic
- Practical support needs
This is not an exhaustive list and Dads can be referred (or refer themselves) for other reasons. This support is offered in addition to the Traditional Home Visiting support provided by Home-Start Horizons.
Support provided will be tailored to the needs of each individual Dad. Support can be offered face to face, either in the home or at another setting, or there is an option of phone support. Support can be provided on either a one-off or ongoing basis, and this will be reviewed at regular intervals. Whilst there is flexibility in how support will be provided in terms of time and location, the Dad’s project is not an emergency out-of-hours service.
The Dad’s Project also runs group activities for Dads. These groups are designed to help Dads meet others in a similar situation and include a range of online workshops and face-to-face activities.
Before referring someone to the service, please ensure that you have received consent from the Dad for the referral. Please complete the Dad’s project referral form and return it by email to us.
The service is open to Dads with a child aged 0-5, including expectant Dads. To access the service, Dads must reside within Leicester City. It is not only biological Fathers than can access support, support is open to anyone undertaking the role of being a Dad within the family. Dads also don’t need to be resident in the family home to be eligible for support.