Dad Matters UK

Dad Matters UK Dad Matters is a Home-Start Project, developed in Greater Manchester and delivered across the UK.

We support dads have successful relationships with their families, with mental health and accessing services through peer support and signposting. Dad Matters, Powered by Home-Start, supports dads in the perinatal period and beyond – helping them build strong bonds with their babies, look after their own wellbeing, and feel confident in their role as fathers. We work alongside mums, families, and

professionals to make sure dads are included and supported from pregnancy through the first 1001 days of their child’s life. Through peer support, one-to-one help, and partnerships with maternity and mental health services, we make sure dads have the right information and support at the right time.

💙 Because for every baby, their Dad matters! 💙

Dad Matters is powered by Home-Start, one of the UK’s leading family support charities.

20/08/2026
20/08/2026
20/08/2026

What you’ve learned could help another dad 💙 We’re looking for more dads and male role models to volunteer with Dad Matters Portsmouth. Our next 8-week volunteer induction course starts next month… could you be the person another family needs?

📅Starting Wednesday 23rd September
⌚9.30am-12.30pm

📍The Haven, Lake Road, PO1 4HA
🔗Find out more and sign up: hsportsmouth.org.uk/volunteer

Dad Matters UK Home-Start Portsmouth

20/08/2026
19/08/2026
19/08/2026

SHARE THIS STORY.

"For 13 days, after my first child was born, I was exactly the dad I always wanted to be. But then something horrible happened.

On day 14, I had to go back to work. Not because I put my career first.

That’s all most Dads get in this country. Because two weeks paternity leave is all I was allowed.

Trying to do a full-time job on no sleep, then coming home to care for a newborn
It took a toll on me. I think it was a combination of burnout and anxiety.

This is the bit that makes me sad. It doesn’t have to be this way 😔
In the UK, we have the worst paternity leave in all of Europe. It leaves mums alone when they're most vulnerable, and babies without their dads at the exact moment we’re needed most."

Stories like Alex’s have inspired the UK’s first ever parent strike on Thursday 27 August. It’s a call for better paternity leave and flexible working ✊

Alex says the pressure of trying to balance his professional and personal life affected his mental health.

“It was so difficult to properly support my family around my job. After a while I realised it was taking a toll on me. I think it was a combination of burnout and anxiety.”

When his second child was born, Alex took unpaid leave to supplement his paternity leave, a decision that came with significant financial sacrifice.

“I feel privileged I was even able to do that, but for so many people it just isn’t an option - that needs to change.”

If you support better parental leave and flexible working, comment STRIKE and we’ll send you info about your local event. Let’s go!

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A special thanks to Alex for sharing his story and using his voice to fight for the rights of all parents in the UK.

13/08/2026

Come and join Dads Rock at their next Dads Antenatal workshop on Tuesday 18th August at 7pm in Home-Start Early Years Hub, Maryhill. ❤

You can sign up here: https://dadsrock.beaconforms.com/form/ba813647

It's an informal group of new dads, coming together to learn some practical skills and find out more about how to look after and care for your baby.

Address

Leicester

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0161 344 0669

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