A PROGRAMME which supports fathers and male care givers has been awarded £91,000 through Better Start Bradford's Innovation Fund.

Resilient Dads, which is run by Sharing Voices, is a holistic personal development and parenting skills programme which aims to develop the skills and competence of fathers to support their toddlers social, emotional, and cognitive development from the age of 0 to four.

The programme has been developed to support fathers and male carers who have experienced adversity which may impact on their own parenting. 

It uses methods such as sport and team building to help participants to engage.

Ishtiaq Ahmed, Strategic Business Manager at Sharing Voices, said: “Resilient Dads has been developed from two successful tried and tested support programmes, that have been combined to enable us to provide a holistic approach to dads in the Better Start Bradford community.

“By providing this approach, we are not only improving parenting skills, but we are also empowering participants with a range of skills to ensure they develop greater levels of emotional intelligence and resilience. We want to help them so the adverse experiences that they may have experienced in childhood do not continue to impact on their parenting.”

Gill Thornton, Head of Programme at Better Start Bradford, added: “We are really pleased to be working with Sharing Voices Bradford, who have a track record in improving the mental well-being of the men in our diverse communities.

"We know that negative childhood experiences can hugely impact on adults and in turn their children, but we also know that with help the cycle can stop.”

Better Start Bradford, set up by the National Lottery Community Fund, works with families to give children the best possible start in life in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton through a range of projects to support them through pregnancy and the earliest years of their children’s lives.