Top Dads

ContinYou's Top Dads project was an exciting and innovative approach to supporting vulnerable young fathers who were some of the hardest to reach, and who faced disadvantage and social exclusion.

It was part of a national initiative funded by the Home Office. Top Dads was delivered in partnership with Youth Sport Trust.

Aims

The project aimed to:

• support vulnerable young fathers and their children
• develop the confidence of young fathers in their role as parents
• support disadvantaged and socially excluded young fathers to address other issues in their lives
• introduce young fathers to the benefits of sport-related play and physical activity for their children. The Youth Sports Trust offered its TOP programme to help young fathers to develp their children's physical skills and dexterity.
• develop a strong local network of multi-agency support
• influence the way professional agencies respond to young fathers
• empower young fathers to help influence professional agencies

While on the Top Dads programme, young dads were offered one-to-one and small group mentoring guidance on positive parenting. They were also provided with help and signposting to other support agencies to help them to overcome other difficulties they may be facing in their personal lives.

Toolkit

From the experience of the Top Dads pilot ContinYou has produced a 'Top Dads Toolkit' on working with young fathers. It is designed to aid a range of organisations, including schools and children's centres, youth and voluntary organisations, community and parenting groups, and health and social care agencies.

The toolkit provides advice on setting up and sustaining projects, as well as a framework of issues to consider, illustrations of established practice and guidance on what has worked for others.

To order your copy, email our publications team: publications@continyou.org.uk.

ContinYou successfully uses the experience it has gained over more than twenty years to provide training and consultancy, develop projects and produce publications which help to involve excluded groups in learning and in improving their quality of life.

The National Children's Bureau was commissioned to evaluate ContinYou's Parenting Fund programme, which includes Top Dads. Download the evaluation report (PDF file, 662 KB).