Million

children live in lone parent
families in the UK.
(Office of National Statistics 2019)

Million
children in the UK are growing up without a father in their lives.
(Centre for Social Justice 2017)

Billion
The economic cost of family breakdown in 2018.
(Relationships Foundation 2018)

%

of young men in prison in England and Wales had an absent father.
(Prison Reform Trust 2013)

Why Lads Need Dads

Lads Need Dads believe prevention is crucial in reducing the growing number of boys coming from fatherless homes each year who under achieve at school, struggle with their mental health, are excluded from school or engage in offending behaviour.

At Lads Need Dads we believe in early intervention and in walking alongside boys during the critical years of 11-15. We provide a team of vetted and specialist trained mentors who work in group and long-term. A large part of our work focuses on increasing emotional intelligence and resilience, so boys can recognise and express other emotions, aside from either anger or indifference.

We provide opportunities for the boys to be stretched both mentally and physically by engaging with the outdoors and teach them practical life-skills which they get the opportunity to practice by volunteering in the community. We provide opportunities to be inspired by men from the community and to train as leaders and peer mentors.

Our Mission

“To empower and enable boys age 11-15 with absent fathers or limited access to a male role model, to be motivated, responsible, capable, resilient and emotionally competent to PREVENT them becoming at risk of under achieving, offending, exclusion or dropping out of school.”

The absent father isn’t the only challenge we face in this society, the way boys are socialised to express themselves needs to change too. The bottling up of emotions can lead to unwise choices and negative consequences. Our aim at Lads Need Dads is to help provide the support, guidance and encouragement, and a much-needed male voice to enable this process to happen.

Why Lads Need Dads

Lads Need Dads believe prevention is crucial in reducing the growing number of boys coming from fatherless homes each year who under achieve at school, struggle with their mental health, are excluded from school or engage in offending behaviour.

At Lads Need Dads we believe in early intervention and in walking alongside boys during the critical years of 11-15. We provide a team of vetted and specialist trained mentors who work in group and long-term. A large part of our work focuses on increasing emotional intelligence and resilience, so boys can recognise and express other emotions, aside from either anger or indifference.

We provide opportunities for the boys to be stretched both mentally and physically by engaging with the outdoors and teach them practical life-skills which they get the opportunity to practice by volunteering in the community. We provide opportunities to be inspired by men from the community and to train as leaders and peer mentors.

The absent father isn’t the only challenge we face in this society, the way boys are socialised to express themselves needs to change too. The bottling up of emotions can lead to unwise choices and negative consequences. Our aim at Lads Need Dads is to help provide the support, guidance and encouragement, and a much-needed male voice to enable this process to happen.

Our Mission

“To empower and enable boys age 11-15 with absent fathers or limited access to a male role model, to be motivated, responsible, capable, resilient and emotionally competent to PREVENT them becoming at risk of under achieving, offending, exclusion or dropping out of school.”

Equip Programme

Find out more

Engage Programme

Find out more

Inspire Programme

Find out more

Ambassadors Programme

Find out more
Feedback

“Lads Need Dads are an incredible force in building lads’ self-esteem and resilience through mentoring and encouraging. This is so key to helping families facing difficulties and can only help build the future generations into caring loving men with purpose.”

– Parent

“It is very rare you come across something to help young boys. I searched for ages before I found them. They have been an essential part of our lives for the past 2 years. The support they have provided both myself and my son has been outstanding.”

– Parent

“Early intervention is key in preventing children taking the wrong path or making wrong choices. Lads need dads fills the void left behind by absent father’s in adolescence. Such a wonderful programme that needs to be rolled out across the country.”

– Parent

“They do crucial work with young boys with absent fathers. This helps develop their emotional intelligence, it empowers them and builds resilience helping them steer away from under achieving, getting caught up in offending behaviour and dropping out of school.”

– Teacher

“I have felt really happy that he has been able to talk with the other boys about issues that sometimes he doesn’t want to talk about at home.”

– Parent

“My son has improved confidence, motivation, resilience, self-worth, sense of pride in himself as a person. He’s more expressive with his feelings, is able to control his temper a lot better, is able to listen and understand different points of view.”

– Parent

“My child’s self-esteem, sense of responsibility has increased. He appears happier in his own skin and proud to be male. He has taken pride in his own learning and is engaging more with family. He listens well”

– Parent

“He has gained hugely in confidence and more importantly in self-worth. He knows he still has a value even if he is not academically brilliant.”

– Parent

“I learnt that you can let your emotions out and that you don’t have to keep it inside to let it build-up”

– Boy

“It made me realise how much I love the outdoors and found new interests in the process.”

– Boy

“It’s friendly and everyone is close and it teaches you valuable life-skills.”

– Boy

“It teaches you about actual life.”

– Boy

“We have seen distinct changes in many of the pupils on the programme. Many of them had little to focus their attention away from getting into needless conflict during the school day. So many of them seem to have lost an element of anger and frustration from their personalities and now appear much happier as a result.”

– School (Pastoral Lead)

“Primarily, the greatest benefit is that we have a number of pupils that are in need of a positive male role model. There is not always the most appropriate agency to refer these students to so this is a great alternative. The boys also get a chance to work with peers that they would not usually which goes a long way to build relationships where there would be none otherwise.”

– School (Pastoral Lead)

Feedback

“I have felt really happy that he has been able to talk with the other boys about issues that sometimes he doesn’t want to talk about at home.”

– Parent

“My son has improved confidence, motivation, resilience, self-worth, sense of pride in himself as a person. He’s more expressive with his feelings, is able to control his temper a lot better, is able to listen and understand different points of view.”

– Parent

“My child’s self-esteem, sense of responsibility has increased. He appears happier in his own skin and proud to be male. He has taken pride in his own learning and is engaging more with family. He listens well”

– Parent

“He has gained hugely in confidence and more importantly in self-worth. He knows he still has a value even if he is not academically brilliant.”

– Parent

“I learnt that you can let your emotions out and that you don’t have to keep it inside to let it build-up”

– Boy

“It made me realise how much I love the outdoors and found new interests in the process.”

– Boy

“It’s friendly and everyone is close and it teaches you valuable life-skills.”

– Boy

“It teaches you about actual life.”

– Boy

“We have seen distinct changes in many of the pupils on the programme. Many of them had little to focus their attention away from getting into needless conflict during the school day. So many of them seem to have lost an element of anger and frustration from their personalities and now appear much happier as a result.”

– School (Pastoral Lead)

“Primarily, the greatest benefit is that we have a number of pupils that are in need of a positive male role model. There is not always the most appropriate agency to refer these students to so this is a great alternative. The boys also get a chance to work with peers that they would not usually which goes a long way to build relationships where there would be none otherwise.”

– School (Pastoral Lead)