Father and Child Trust are pleased to be attending this year’s Auckland Baby Show. As the only charity offering information and support for all dads, we are really glad to be connecting with expecting and new dads, offering help and understanding in the last trimester and those tricky first few weeks and months.
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Father and Child have supported dads with post-natal issues for nearly 20 years, all over New Zealand by telephone and personal support. We attend dads nights as part of ‘Mothers Helpers’ support groups.
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Another year has passed and Christmas is coming. We know this means more fathers call and email us from around the country, sometimes coming in to our offices. This can be a really stressful time for some dads.
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Father and Child trust were proud to attend the first graduation ceremony at Family Start Manukau on Tuesday 17th November. Five parents graduated from this ten module course – conducted by Lee Kumeroa and based on Father and Child’s Discovering Fatherhood Correspondence Course.

Lee converted the theory based content into ‘Leading Questions’ which were interactive and gave measurable outcomes. “I had to rework it for Group Facilitation, that meant we changed it into questions that would develop understanding, it was based on a Powerpoint but we did a lot of korero so the learning came more from within.”

‘Discovering Fatherhood’… covers topics like early baby brain development, toddler play, toilet training and nappies, choosing the right day-care, co-parenting even if you live apart and dealing with teenagers. It comprises ten modules and is available free with phone or drop in support. Father and Child also has modules on ‘Finding Calm’, anger management and the removal of anger from parenting.

Feedback from the graduates was all positive and the word ‘Awesome’ kept coming up. “I learned lots of things that if I had known them, how important they are, I would have done things differently” One of the dads described how Lee was involved in the learning process too… “The way he designed it and put it all together, he got involved in the discussions.” This made the sessions more accessible and resulted in more understanding, especially around tricky subjects.

Local community identity and Youth worker Damon Heke helped present the graduates with their certificates, he shared his story about how his life has transformed from trouble to Maori TV and into his current work at Manurewa Marae.

Family Start aim to run the course again in the new year – refining and developing it to be even more succinct, open and using feedback, knowing that it fairly quickly gets to the point.

Family Start Manukau has a Dads Group as part of their overall support work and they find this a great way to focus the dads on their vital role with the children, plus how they can work together with the mothers for their children’s welfare. Father and Child is honoured and proud to have helped.

Father and Child Trust’s Brendon Smith presented at the AAIMHI Conference “And father makes three; family inclusive practice” on Oct 29-31 at UNSW in Sydney, Australia.
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Sharon Yella of AUT is currently conducting an online anonymous survey on single-dads’ experiences and perceptions of social services. Last year, Sharon did a study that showed that single-dads weren’t always treated right by organizations such as CYFS, WINZ and even Plunket. From this she realized we needed more voices on the topic about family services that engage with fathers.
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We are pleased to invite expecting couples to a free event on the benefits of bonding and communicating with your baby, while they are still in the womb. Mothers and fathers can experience the connection, improve birth and baby outcomes by working together to establishing a great start for baby – before they are born.
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What do dads bring to their children’s lives? Father & Child worker Brendon Smith explains in this video from Raising Children.

The role of fathers has changed dramatically over the past few generations. Once focused on providing for the family but pretty hands-off when it came to day-to-day parenting, dads these days tend to be very involved in actively caring for their children – a win-win situation for everyone.
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Fathers Day at Ambury Farm in Mangere Bridge has become a tradition for Father and Child Trust. This year, we also hosted a great fishing day on Mangere Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
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Engaging Fathers – for Agency Professionals
Tuesday 1st September
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