Surrey dads club founded to support mental health and well being

The founder of a dads club in Surrey has been telling us about the overwhelming feedback he has had since starting the project.

The Secret Dads club was founded by dads Jack and Will.

Jack told us why he set up the group

"I sort of had it in the back of my head to do this anyway. And I sort of had a like, you know, you get that burning passion to do something.

So I sort of put a feeder out on socials and the response I got back from it was amazing. So I was like, OK, I feel like there's there's a spot here that we could, we could nail."

The group hosts events for dads and their kids in order to build social networks and help mental health and well being as a whole

Jack told us why sometimes socialising can feel different for dads

"Whenever I would be out or go to, let's say, social events or parties or anything, the number of dads that were out was surprisingly low

For a dad, when you're in that social setting and you are one of the only dads there, for some dads it can be quite an overwhelming experience

I wanted to try and stop that overwhelming feeling for dads. So if we could create a massive space where dads are all together, there is no social anxiety, there's, you know, you build that confidence of being in a group with other dads and we can relate to problems."

Since the group was founded in May, it has grown consistently, Jack says that the feedback he got has been amazing

"The feedback honestly has been amazing from from everybody that I've spoken to. Everybody I've spoken to has said that this initiative is very good

There is a massive space for it. I've had mums that I've met, their partners have said, where is my dad club? You get your mum group. Where's my dad one?"

Jack also added that there is plenty of space for the group to grow

"We have massive aspirations for where we want to go with this. Eventually we want to have someone situated in sort of each town of a borough and then branch out because already I've had people through social say from Liverpool area and Shropshire area saying we've got nothing like this where we are.

So the eventual plan would be to expand it across obviously a country."

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