%

of the British public think fatherlessness is a serious problem.
(Centre for Social Justice 2013)

Million
children in the UK are growing up without a father in their lives.
(Centre for Social Justice 2013)

Billion
the economic cost of family breakdown in 2016, or £1820 for every taxpayer.
(Relationships Foundation 2016)

%

of all men in prison in England and Wales had an absent father.
(Prison Reform Trust 2015)

Why Lads Need Dads

In 2014 the Centre for Social Justice published Fractured Families which highlighted an alarming trend of fatherlessness across the UK. It found that a teenager sitting their GCSEs is more likely to own a smartphone than live with their father.

Statistics document the fact that fatherless boys are far more likely to drop out of school, abuse alcohol and/or drugs, join gangs or go to prison than boys with fathers.

Although the impact of the absent father on boys is far-ranging, not all boys who grow up without a father struggle with alcohol or drugs, not all offend or are drawn into joining a gang, though statistically the risks are much higher and that is something we cannot ignore.

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.”

What we have found at Lads Need Dads are some common factors which many boys share. These include a sense of feeling:

rejected and unworthy
adrift
betrayed
broken trust
a need to belong
self-loathing and rage
incomplete

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

In 2014 the Centre for Social Justice published Fractured Families which highlighted an alarming trend of fatherlessness across the UK. It found that a teenager sitting their GCSEs is more likely to own a smartphone than live with their father.

Statistics document the fact that fatherless boys are far more likely to drop out of school, abuse alcohol and/or drugs, join gangs or go to prison than boys with fathers.

Although the impact of the absent father on boys is far-ranging, not all boys who grow up without a father struggle with alcohol or drugs, not all offend or are drawn into joining a gang, though statistically the risks are much higher and that is something we cannot ignore.

What we have found at Lads Need Dads are some common factors which many boys share. These include a sense of feeling:

rejected and unworthy
adrift
betrayed
broken trust
a need to belong
self-loathing and rage
incomplete

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

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)

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)