Supporting Dads - You Matter

Local Groups You Can Join

• Dad Breakfast Club - YMCA Norfolk

  YMCA Norfolk, based in Norwich, will run a ‘Dad Breakfast Club’. Dads will be given support for pre-natal and infancy relationships, as well as how to look after their own wellbeing and mental health.

  They will also invite a range of professionals to host sessions such as baby nutrition experts and child sleep therapists.

  The programme will then run Saturday mornings at their Community Hub on Aylsham Road. As well as a cooked breakfast, there will be access to their on-site soft play for children.

  Tel: 01603 621263

  Email: info@ymcanorfolk.org

• Daddy and Me - Merchants' Place Cromer

  Merchants’ Place in Cromer provides a welcoming space for local groups to meet and socialise. They run a Daddy and Me course where an early years practitioner delivers baby massage and baby sensory sessions and you have the opportunity to get advice. They also organise social events for the dads involved.

  Address: 16 Church Street, Cromer, NR27 9ES

  Tel: 01263 519454

  Email: info@merchantsplace.co.uk

  Visit the website

• Dads United - Norwich City Community Sports Foundation

  Dads United is a free hour-and-a-half football, social and support session for new and expectant fathers.

  Taking place on Thursdays at The Nest between 7:30pm and 9pm, the programme will include an hour of small-sided football followed by a 30-minute social, support opportunities and regular guest speakers.

  The programme aims to:

  • Boost your physical & mental wellbeing
  • Give you the opportunity to connect with fellow dads or dads-to-be
  • Receive expert guidance, plus access to one-to-one mental health support.

  Find out more

• ESCAPE Dads - Family Action

  Family Action will run 'ESCAPE Dads', weekly sessions for new fathers and fathers to be at the ESCAPE Project which operates from two locations: a community allotment and orchard site in Swaffham and the Discovery Centre in King's Lynn.

  A range of activities will be offered including growing plants and produce, maintaining the sites, cooking in the outdoor kitchen, and learning horticulture skills/crafts, aimed at confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose.

  Email: info@family-action.org.uk

• Everyone Active

  A nationwide group of leisure centres with a mission to encourage people to take part in 30 minutes of physical activity, five times a week. They have bases at Cromer, Fakenham, North Walsham and Sheringham.

  They provide pool-based father and child activity through weekly hosted sessions, and three-month open access memberships.

  Cromer: Norwich Road, Cromer, NR27 0EX. Tel: 01263 515669

  Fakenham: Trap Lane, Fakenham, NR21 9HL. Tel: 01328 850010

  North Walsham: Station Road, North Walsham, NR28 0DZ. Tel: 01692 402293

  Sheringham: Weybourne Road, Sheringham, NR26 8WD. Tel: 01263 825675

• Expectant Fathers course - Dadvengers

  A national organisation aiming to support and educate dads and create positive fatherhood experiences for families.

  They are running an Expectant Fathers course in King's Lynn, designed to help dads prepare for fatherhood.

  Email: info@dadvengers.com

  Visit the website

• Get Me Out The Four Walls

  Offering support for parents and carers living in Norfolk and Suffolk to ensure they never feel alone and isolated at home after the birth of their children.

  They have a hub in Norwich and organise social meets for parents and carers in community areas such as coffee shops, parks and soft play centres. There is also online provision for anyone who struggles with anxiety.

  They are running 12 activity days for new fathers, with children aged 0-2 in Norwich, King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth.

  Email: info@getmeout.org.uk

  Visit the website

• Magic Dad sessions - Magic Acorns CIC

  Magic Acorns is based in Great Yarmouth and helps children and their families through art forms such as music, theatre, making, art and play.

  They will run weekly 90-minute Magic Dad sessions over 30 weeks for children and their fathers or male carers to create positive parent-infant relationships. Sessions will be free, inclusive, and accessible and will take place in their recently opened EY Arts Space in the centre of Great Yarmouth.

  Fathers and their babies will explore and grow their connection through creative play, music, and physical play. Participants will be guided to follow their baby, listening and noticing the ways that a very young child might communicate before words.

  Email: info@magicacorns.co.uk

  Visit the website

• MensCraft

  A Norwich-based charity focusing exclusively on the health and wellbeing of men. 

  MensCraft will provide a three-stage programme of support for fathers to be in Norwich and Great Yarmouth, comprising:

  • Three-hour free antenatal sessions for dads-to-be to provide information and advice about becoming a dad and what support might be available to them and their family.
  • A WhatsApp support group among dads to chat about how they are finding fatherhood.
  • A wellbeing check at  six weeks post-birth in which dads can discuss any concerns they may have about fatherhood and be signposted to additional support.

  Address: The Cottage, Maddermarket Theatre, St Johns Alley, Norwich, NR2 1DR.

  Tel: 0800 208 8382

  Email: info@menscraft.org.uk

  Visit the website

• Nurturing Fatherhood Project - The King's Glory Church

  The King's Glory Church in King's Lynn is running a Nurturing Fatherhood Project to address the challenges faced by new fathers, especially focusing on immigrants lacking traditional family support structures.

  Tel: 01553 600036

  email: admin@thekingsglory.org.uk

• Reepham Methodist Church

  They will be hosting bacon buttie Saturday mornings once a term, for dads of the children who attend the weekly Tots Spot sessions at the church.

  Tel: 01692 501003

  Email: nncircuitadm@gmail.com

• Reprezent Project

  Reprezent Project is an urban arts organisation that provides artistic expression and creative tasks for people who may be at risk of social and economic disadvantages.

  In partnership with Walk and Talk EA, they are offering a series of 10 free workshops over a 26-week period for new and expectant dads in the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston area. They will use arts and culture to support new and expectant fathers to express themselves, through storytelling and craft work.

  Email: info.reprezent@gmail.com

• Sing Together, Grow Together - PCC St George Colegate

  A Norwich church which hosts Sing Together, Grow Together workshops where new fathers can learn songs and musical activities to do with their children.

  Address: St Georges Street, Norwich, NR3 1DA.

  Tel: 01603 663757

  Email: singtogethergrowtogether@gmail.com

  More information

• Thetford Dads' Family Support Group

  Offering friendly, practical help and support to families with at least one child under 11. Volunteers regularly visit families to help prevent crisis and family breakdown and to be supportive in tough times.

  They are running a Thetford Dads' Family Support Group, which will offer fun activities for dads and children.

  Tel: 01379 678552

  Email: info@familiestogethersuffolk.org.uk