A BARROW charity which supports fathers so they can spend time, have fun and create special memories with their children has received a funding boost.
Barrow Dads Group is the June recipient of the Lake District Farmers Armstrong Family Charitable Fund and has been rewarded with £1,000.
The project was set up in 2001 after a shortage of groups to specifically support fathers and male carers was identified in the borough.
The group, which meets every Monday at Bram Longstaffe from 4.30pm to 6.30pm, provides dads with the chance to meet up and spend quality time with their children by playing games, and taking part in arts and crafts.
The dads, who may be new parents or single parents, can also support each other and socialise.
Group trips are organised to attractions around the area, giving families, who might not normally be able to afford it, the chance to travel.
New opportunities
David Morrison, manager of Barrow Dads Group, said: "It was set up originally because I was working for Sure Start and we were doing a consultation with parents in the town centre.
"It was about what services are we going to deliver and what we found was a lot of dads called themselves 'McDonald's dads' because there wasn't many places to go.
"They could only go to the park so many times and when it was good weather. There wasn't much else to do in the town centre.
"It's given them lots of opportunities.
"It's about providing positive male role models."
Exciting plans
The group is planning to set up a second weekly session at Four Groves every Thursday from 4pm to 6pm.
The LDF cash will towards trips, such as to Blackpool illuminations, Grizedale Forest and Happy Mount Park in Morecambe.
The money was raised at an annual celebrity chef event held in Dalton, hosted and sponsored by Clarence House Country Hotel and Restaurant.
Sheenah Alcock, Evening Mail head of content, said: "Ray Armstrong was a devoted father so it's fitting that money raised in his memory will be used by Barrow dads to spend quality time with their children."
How to enter
Every month, the Evening Mail gives away cash to worthy charities and causes in south Cumbria through the fund.
Click here to apply for the £1,000 donation.
Read about some of the previous recipients:
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