National Programme Launched to Support Organisations to Include Men

National Programme Launched to Support Organisations to Include Men

Fathers Plus, the service which works with organisations across the UK to do more to include fathers and men has launched a new modular programme to support male inclusion in response to the DCSF ‘Think Fathers/Think Families’ campaigns.

The new ‘Including Men in Organisations’ programme builds on the experience of Fathers Plus over the last 12 years to offer organisations a structured, fast and cost effective way of Auditing Services, Planning for Father/Male Inclusion and Producing documentary evidence to include in statutory reports such as OFSTED and Comprehensive Area Assessments.

Roger Olley is one of the country’s leading experts in father inclusion and has extensive experience in the NHS as one of the few male health visitors. Roger also heads up the Fathers Plus service. He said “from work with Local Authority and other partners across the UK, we have found that change in services to include men is best achieved and becomes sustainable where staff at all levels of the organisation are involved. The purpose in developing this new programme is to make relevant information accessible to the right people at every level of the organisation - to combine clear direction, with an audit and action plan in order to reach agreed goals.”

Through the Including Men in Organisations Programme, Fathers Plus works with staff from director level to volunteers to ensure that the ‘whole team’ and ‘whole system’ is involved in developing a ‘whole family’ approach to services.

The Including Men in Organisations programme builds on the success of the nationally accredited ‘Developing Men Friendly Organisations’ programme which was created by Fathers Plus in partnership with ContinYou in 2003 and has supported hundreds of managers and practitioners to make changes in their organisations.

More information about the programme and the Fathers Plus service can be found at www.fathersplus.org

Notes to editor:

• The Gender Equality Duty places a statutory obligation on public services to meet the different needs of men and women.

• The 'Think Fathers' campaign from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was prompted by concerns that many local authority children's services need to do more to develop 'Family Inclusive Practice' which engages effectively with fathers and male carers.
• Fathers Plus is a national service with over 12 years experience working with Local Authority Family Services and partner agencies, and was developed in the North East of England by Children North East, one of the country’s oldest children’s charities.
• The service aim is to ensure that men in caring roles are valued, supported and included in all approaches to work with children and families. Including male carers has been shown to improve outcomes for children and young people and is an important element of the Every Child Matters agenda.
• Engaging fathers is now embedded in key government documents such as the Children’s Centre Guidance (2006), Every Parent Matters, Aiming High for Children, the Healthy Child Programme and the National Service Framework for Children Young People and Maternity Services.
• Children North East was founded in 1891 as The Poor Children’s Holiday Association (PCHA) and is a registered charity No 222041
• Children North East manages a number of community-based projects that aim to help children, young people and their families to overcome some of life’s inequalities and enable them to reach their full potential.
• For more information visit www.fathersplus.org