With additional funding through the University of Lincoln QR Strategic fund, the Diverse Dads co-research project (conducted between October 2020 and April 2021) involved a partnership between the ‘Following Young Fathers Further’ research team and the North East Young Dads and Lads (NEYDL), based in Gateshead, UK. Supporting a collaboration between a small team of young men and fathers as peer researchers, NEYDL professional staff, the FYFF team and an advisory group of local and national experts, the initiative comprised four key activities:
- Producing a demographic profile of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the Tyne and Wear region, including the prevalence of young fatherhood,
- Establishing new alliances with services who work with Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and young parents to enable outreach, updated training, and the embedding of inclusive forms of support,
- Generating evidence about how and why services should engage with a wider constituency of young fathers, especially those from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds,
- Co-disseminating evidence to professionals and policymakers.
The peer research captured and analysed service provision for young fathers in the North East region and produced recommendations for practice with relevance to family policy and practice support for young fathers and their families that are sensitive to the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity and religious affiliation.
The peer research team
The research was conducted by Adam, Dylan and Will (NEYDL). Adam says of the project:
“I feel really privileged to be part of this research. It is something so new and close to me to explore. I myself am part of a minority ethnic community and being able to give people like me a voice about what kind of support we would like to see through things like parenthood. I have always been interested in cultures and what it is like for them day to day. This project is a great way for me to do so.”
Dylan says:
“I’m really interested in this research as I myself would like to know what there is for the Black, Asian and minority ethnic young dads as I’ve not heard of anything that involves them and I feel really proud to be part of these findings. I really enjoy doing research work in general as it is very fascinating to understand and explore certain things”
Findings and Outputs
Watch our video about the project to learn more. We have also produced a range of project videos and accessible reports that present our findings and recommendations for practice that you can access via the links below.
