Dad Matters Kirklees

Dad Matters Kirklees Supporting dads in Kirklees to have the best possible relationship with their families

17/06/2026

It's Loneliness Awareness Week, and this year's theme is giving loneliness a voice.

So here's something that doesn't get said often enough: dads get lonely too.

It's a strange kind of loneliness, becoming a father. You're never actually on your own - there's a baby who needs you constantly, a partner, a house full of activity. But you can be surrounded by all of that and still feel completely disconnected from everyone and everything that used to make you feel like you.

That's real. It's common. And it's nothing to be ashamed of.

If it sounds familiar, Dad Matters Kirklees is here to talk.

It's Men's Mental Health Week, and for new dads, there's a version of struggling that often goes unspoken.When a baby ar...
15/06/2026

It's Men's Mental Health Week, and for new dads, there's a version of struggling that often goes unspoken.

When a baby arrives, a lot of a dad's usual outlets quietly fall away. The five-a-side on a Tuesday. The pint after work. The mates you used to see without having to plan it three weeks ahead. None of it disappears overnight, but it thins out - and often nobody really clocks it, including you.

That gradual loss of connection matters more than it gets credit for. It's one of the main reasons new dads can end up feeling flat, irritable, or just not themselves.

Dad Matters Kirklees exists partly to fill that gap - to be somewhere dads can talk, connect, and not feel like they're the only one finding it hard.If that's you, get in touch.

🧡🖤DAD FACT FRIDAY🧡🖤A study (published in BMC Pediatrics) of 255 babies aged 3–4 months found that the more involved thei...
12/06/2026

🧡🖤DAD FACT FRIDAY🧡🖤

A study (published in BMC Pediatrics) of 255 babies aged 3–4 months found that the more involved their dads were, the better those babies scored on neurodevelopment assessments.

But there was a second finding that's just as significant: dad involvement also reduced mum's parenting stress - and that reduction in stress independently improved outcomes for the baby too.

In other words, a dad tuning in and showing up doesn't just affect his baby directly, it changes the whole environment the baby is developing in.

That's what attunement does, and that's why it matters.

It's Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, and we've been thinking about what could get in the way of tuning in to your b...
10/06/2026

It's Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, and we've been thinking about what could get in the way of tuning in to your baby.

You can be in the same room as your baby and still not quite be there. Exhausted, distracted, turning something over in your head. It happens to every parent, and for dads who are often carrying a lot of pressure around work, finances, and trying to hold everything together, it can happen a lot.

That gap between being physically present and emotionally present is worth paying attention to - not to feel bad about it, but because closing it, even partially, makes a real difference to your baby and to you.

It doesn't take big moments. Just small ones, repeated. Making eye contact, responding when they make a sound, putting the phone down for ten minutes. That's attunement in practice, and that's what this week is about.

This week is Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year's theme is attunement.It's a word that might sound clini...
08/06/2026

This week is Infant Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year's theme is attunement.

It's a word that might sound clinical, but what it actually describes is something pretty simple: tuning in to your baby, noticing what they're communicating, responding to it, being present enough to pick up on the signals they're sending even before they have words.

Babies are communicating constantly. A cry that means hunger is different from one that means overstimulation, the way they turn their head away when they've had enough, the way they reach for you when they want connection.

For dads, especially in those early weeks when everything is new and you're running on no sleep, tuning in isn't always easy. But it matters, and it gets easier the more you practice it.

Dad Matters Kirklees supports dads in building exactly this kind of relationship with their baby. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

🖤🧡DAD FACT FRIDAY🧡🖤Research published by the British Psychological Society found that dad jokes - yes, really - have a m...
05/06/2026

🖤🧡DAD FACT FRIDAY🧡🖤

Research published by the British Psychological Society found that dad jokes - yes, really - have a measurable positive effect on children's development.

Humour researcher Marc Hye-Knudsen found that a dad's willingness to be silly, embarrassing, and persistently unfunny teaches children something genuinely valuable: that awkwardness isn't fatal, that it's ok to not take yourself too seriously, and that the people who love you will still be there after a terrible pun.

Your kids being able to understand your bad jokes may come a little bit later in their life, but the playfulness, the silliness, the willingness to be daft for the sake of a laugh starts from day one.

So if you've been pulling faces at a baby who doesn't entirely know what to make of you yet, you're already on the right track.

We're in the middle of Child Safety Week, and here's a thought for dads specifically:Keeping children safe doesn't mean ...
03/06/2026

We're in the middle of Child Safety Week, and here's a thought for dads specifically:

Keeping children safe doesn't mean wrapping them in cotton wool. It means being present, paying attention, and making a few small changes at home that reduce the risks without getting in the way of them learning and exploring.

Things like knowing where the blind cord hazards are. Keeping button batteries out of reach. Knowing basic first aid. None of it takes long, but it all matters.

Child Accident Prevention Trust has everything you need in one place: capt.org.uk/resource-centre/

It's Child Safety Week, and this year it's all about making prevention possible.This is not done by overwhelming parents...
01/06/2026

It's Child Safety Week, and this year it's all about making prevention possible.

This is not done by overwhelming parents with long lists of things to worry about, but by helping families make simple, practical changes that actually fit into everyday life.

Dads are a big part of that. The way you supervise, the risks you allow, the habits you model all shape how your child learns to navigate the world safely.

Child Accident Prevention Trust has a free Parents' Pack with bite-sized safety tips on the main risks to children. It's worth a look: capt.org.uk/resources/parents-pack/

🧡🖤DAD FACT FRIDAY🖤🧡Children absorb values and behaviours from their parents long before they can articulate what they're...
29/05/2026

🧡🖤DAD FACT FRIDAY🖤🧡

Children absorb values and behaviours from their parents long before they can articulate what they're picking up.

Research shows that a dad's attitudes, emotional responses, and everyday habits are among the strongest predictors of the values a child carries into later life.

It's not what dads tell their children to do; it's what children watch their dads do, consistently, from the very start.

What gets passed on begins earlier than you'd think.

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating across Kirklees and beyond🌙Wishing you and your families a joyful and peaceful Eid ...
27/05/2026

Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating across Kirklees and beyond🌙

Wishing you and your families a joyful and peaceful Eid al-Adha.

Address

Bates Mill, Colne Road
Huddersfield
HD13AG

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+441484421925

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