Being a dad means being there for your children with love, care, and guidance every step of the way. It’s about sharing in the fun, like playing games or reading bedtime stories, and being a steady hand during tougher times, like teaching them right from wrong. As a dad, you get to be a superhero in their eyes, showing them kindness, patience, and the importance of working hard. It can be a journey filled with laughter, learning, and the joy of watching your kids grow into amazing people while creating special memories together.
This all sounds great but it’s not always that simple. Being a dad can also be hard because it comes with a lot of responsibility, and there’s no manual on how to do it right. Balancing work, family time, and personal needs can be challenging, and it’s easy to feel like there’s never enough time in the day. Each child is unique, which means what works for one child might not work for another, requiring patience and adaptability. There are moments of self-doubt, as dads often worry about making the right decisions, setting good examples, and providing the best for their family. It’s also emotionally challenging to see your children face difficulties, and it’s natural to want to protect them from every hurt or failure. Despite the challenges, these tough moments are part of what makes fatherhood meaningful, as they offer opportunities for growth and deeper connections with your kids.
We hope that the information below and the support available locally will help you be an even better dad.
Family Hubs and Children’s Centres hold a monthly Dad’s group for dads with children under 5 at Daisy Hill Children’s Centre which runs on the second Saturday of every month. There will be lots of fun activities for you and your children to enjoy, as well as snack and bacon sandwiches (veggie options available). Click on ‘What’s on’ above to find the next date!
The Nomad Dads Social Group meets every four weeks at a different location across Bedford Borough, and sometimes a little further away. They might meet in a cafe, restaurant, pub, even a park or similar open space. It’s a chance to grab some food, meet some other dads, and chat. It’s also a chance for the kids to make new friends too. So if you’re a dad – young, old, single, married, gay, straight, with one child or multiple children who are babies, pre-schoolers, reception age or even in their early years at school – you’re welcome to join them!
The Man Cave is a Mental Health support group focused on providing a safe and supportive space for men to openly discuss their mental health, share experiences, and seek help when needed. Local meetings are open to anyone and are held weekly across Bedford, Milton Keynes and Northampton.
DAD.info celebrates the changing role of dads with engaging, helpful, practical, entertaining resources and content for every stage of the journey. They are home to the largest connected community of active, involved dads through their interactive forum, providing great peer-to-peer support and advice for what can be one of the most challenging and rewarding life experiences. DAD.info is run by Spurgeons, one of the UK’s leading children’s charities, supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families for 150 years. They also have a Facebook page @dadinfopage.
The Fatherhood Institute have information on everything from parental leave, co-parenting to supporting your child’s education and dealing with baby loss. They have also created a guide for new fathers, called ‘Becoming Dad’.
Family Lives have guides for every aspect of being a dad.
Music. Football. Fatherhood is home to an online community of fathers, and men looking to be fathers in the future. They are a space where dads can be free to talk, listen and read about things that are important to them; stuff like work-life balance, mental health, raising healthy and well-rounded children, money management, relationships and of course music and football. They have content for fathers at all stages of your parenting journey, whether you are an expectant dad, working dad or even a grandad!
DigiDAD was created by the young dads of North East Young Dads and Lads. It is a unique online peer support community. Packed full of easy-to-access father-friendly films, animations, podcasts, courses and even a chat function, they celebrate young fatherhood without shying away from its challenges. If you’re a young dad, you know a young dad or are simply interested in learning more, join them and register for free on the site. For young dads – there are opportunities to develop parenting skills, improve your relationship skills, learn first aid, focus on your mental health, learn about support services, and get involved.
Dope Black Dads is a digital safe space for fathers who wish to discuss their experiences of being black, a parent, and masculinity in the modern world. Their aim is to celebrate, heal, inspire and educate fathers for better outcomes for families.
FACES offer a range of support with their Family Support Service, Dads@FACES and Caring Dads Programme.
Dads Unlimited supports the emotional safety of men and those they care about through three key areas; supporting male victims of domestic abuse, supporting men with family separation, and supporting men’s mental health. All of their services use an evidence-based, trauma-informed, person-centred approach.
Family Hubs and Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity run free weekly wellbeing sessions for all parents to be and parents in the first year of baby’s life, ‘Wellbeing in the Wild’. These provide the opportunity to meet and get to know others, enjoy mindful and calming nature-based activities and access local social prescribing and other support. These sessions can be booked via our Eventbrite page.
Becoming Dad: a guide for new fathers. The Mental Health Foundation have published a guide specifically for dads. This focus of this guide is to help you make sense of what it can be like to be a dad, to look after yourself and the others around you, and do the best possible job of becoming a confident father. They’ve created this guide to try and answer the questions and concerns you’re most likely to have as you set off on your fatherhood journey. There is also information on whatever help and advice you might need along the way, and to hopefully help you do one of the most important and best jobs in the world – becoming a dad! This guide is based on the best, most up-to-date research, and draws on the experiences of thousands of dads who’ve travelled this road before you.
The NHS have tips for how to support your partner when they are in labour
BLMK NHS Healthier Together website has a guide to support your own and your partner’s mental health during pregnancy and in the first year after birth.
DadPad app is the essential free guide for new dads, developed with the NHS. As a new dad you will feel excited, but you may also feel left out, unsure or overwhelmed. The DadPad can help by giving you the knowledge and practical skills that you need. It’s free to download from the Apple Store and Google Play. Once you have downloaded the app, it will then ask for your postcode and you then select Bedfordshire as your location. You will then be able to find localised information.
Family lives have further support and advice for dads and dads-to-be.
The BBC Tiny Happy People website has a guide for looking after your mental health if you’re a new dad.
Birthing for Blokes is created by a dad for dads to support your understanding of pregnancy, birth and how best to support your partner during birth and after baby arrives.