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What is Dads Matter?

A father holding hands with his daughter as he walks her to school

Who is the course for?

  • Most of the dads taking part have a child open to Early Help or Social care, but they don't have to be
  • If dads feel they meet this criteria they can self-refer or ask their child's social worker or family support practitioner to refer
  • We are also teaming up with Children's Services Children with Disabilities (CWD) team, to offer a safe space for Dads to express and discuss things that matter to them as parents, and to help them to access support from other services. If your child has a Social Worker from the CWD team, then you are eligible to attend. Please contact us at dadsmatter@norfolk.gov.uk stating you would like to attend and give your name and the name of your child and their Social Worker's name.

What is the course like?

  • It gets dads talking to each other
  • Each weekly session is usually two hours long
  • The sessions are usually run by two Dads Matter Facilitators who are experienced in leading group work.
  • The course is held in the evening and afternoons in different venues across Norfolk

What will we cover?

  • We will look at many aspects of child development to understand why children behave as they do - from the terrible twos to troubled teens
  • We will use practical tools and explore techniques such as mindfulness to help us manage our own and our children's behaviour and emotions
  • Each week there will be opportunities to reflect and share our experiences with the group and get support from other dads
  • Examples of the subjects we cover in this course can be found in the Dads Matter Understanding Dads - Introduction video on YouTube

Find out more about what you will learn in course information.

Meet the group leaders

Travis Britton has worked for children's services supporting families for 15 years. He is a son and an uncle.

Chris Dickerson has worked for children's services supporting families for 18 years. He is a dad, a son, an uncle, a musician, an actor and a gardener.

They created Dads Matter to support Dads to be the best Dad they can be, because dads do Matter.

In 2019, Travis and Chris were given an Outstanding Contribution Award for Target to Transformation for their work setting up Dads Matter.

If you have any questions or wish to come along:

Email: dadsmatter@norfolk.gov.uk

Dads Matter leaders, Chris Dickerson and Travis Britton, receiving a Norfolk County Council Outstanding Contributions Award from Tom McCabe
Dads Matter leaders, Chris Dickerson, receiving a Norfolk County Council Outstanding Contributions Award.