Group for dads addresses mental health crisis

The founder of a community group aimed at addressing masculinity and men's mental health is highlighting the importance of fathers discussing their feelings.

With 84 men taking their own lives in the UK every week, Dan Flanagan, from Worthing's Dad La Soul, said the tales of male caregivers struggling with parenthood needed to be heard now more than ever.

Speaking a recent TED Talks event to a potential global audience of 40 million subscribers, Mr Flanagan said that loneliness and a lack of support could be "silent killers".

In the wake of the hit Netflix series Adolescence, his group has also highlighted the dangers of misogynistic online influencers.

"It's hard being a bloke sometimes, so you want to know that if you put your hand up and ask for help, people are going to hear you," Mr Flanagan said, who was inspired by his own father's hardships as a single parent.

Eight years ago, he organised a "play date at a friend's office" and Dad La Soul was born.

Going from "14 dads and 20-something kids" turning up "for beat-box battles and soft play," the group has since grown to 4,000 members.

"There's the dad who has missed another bed time story because he has to work to pay the bills and feels so guilty about it, or the dad who has spent thousands of pounds fighting an outdated court system just to see his kids," Mr Flanagan said.

"Then there's the gay dad who has adopted kids and is constantly batting off snide comments because they don't have a mum, or the homeless dad living in temporary accommodation who has got nowhere to take his children.

"But above all, there are the dads who everyone thinks have got it all together, until they're really asked and admit they don't know how they're going to carry on."

As a result, Dad La Soul raises funds through events and campaigns to help build social lives for those who might otherwise find themselves isolated.

It has also been awarded thousands of pounds in community funding from the National Lottery and Comic Relief.

Dad La Soul volunteer Paul Tyldesley added: "Young men need culture and connection and they're asking question about who they are and where they fit into society.

"And that's where the likes of Andrew Tate step in, because he fills the vacuum that's there.

"We need to be thinking about young men as a disadvantaged minority."

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