Peterlee Sure Start Dad’s group celebrates its first birthday in the woods!

The Sunday Family Man dads and male carers group of Peterlee enjoyed a walk on the wild side to celebrate their first birthday!

The group, which started last September, helps dads and male carers meet other father figures and spend quality time with their children. The group was launche by Sure Start Senior Family Worker Debbie Unsworth who noticed a gap in the market for a group for dads. A year later and the group has gone from strength to strength with around 15 families attending every Sunday.

VisitWoods outreach officer Chris Affleck thought the group would be perfect to involve in his pilot project to help local families in East Durham to discover the benefits offered by their local woodlands.

Chris has been involved with the group over the summer holidays, helping the dads, male carers and children who attend to try out nature spotting, tree hunts, pond dipping and learning all about the beautiful natural landscape on their doorsteps.

Shadow Duffield and his three daughters have been along to the woodland sessions. He said, "My children used to scream when they saw ladybirds, along with other bugs, but now when they see a bug they will make a variety of observations and engage in conversations about the creature as opposed to screaming and running away."

Another parent, Jeff Playle who has attended with his son Ben, said: “Working with the Woodland Trust has been excellent for the Dad’s group. It has introduced us to nature and trees in a woodland setting and has given us an interest which will continue away from the group. My son now collects leaves for us to identify as a family and we are looking to join other nature groups to continue our interest. Also the VisitWoods website is excellent for finding things to do in the woods.”

As the group have been enjoying their woodland adventures so much, it made sense for their first birthday party to take part in a wood. A celebratory event was held on Sunday 4th September 2011, at Castle Eden Dene Lodge where the dads and male carers and their children received a medal and a goody bag for their contribution and achievements.

Chris Pope the Senior Reserve Manager at Castle Eden Dene has been involved in the woodland sessions and also attended the one year celebration. She said: “It was a pleasure to be involved with the work of The Woodland Trust and Sure Start Family Man and be able to share the fantastic woodland and wildlife pond of Castle Eden Dene NNR.  I’m not sure who enjoyed our pond dipping session more – staff, dads or children! Working in partnership with like-minded organisations is really rewarding and helps us introduce a wide range of people to the benefits of being in woodlands and exploring the natural environment. Hopefully all those taking part in the sessions will have been inspired by what they have seen and experienced and will become regular visitors to our woods.”

Chris Affleck particularly enjoyed celebrating this success of his project in East Durham. He said: “It has been fantastic to work with the Dad’s group, they are a great bunch and you can tell they really enjoy getting involved in the activities just as much as the kids. During the summer holidays the group have been exploring the outdoors including woodland visits to Castle Eden Dene which have been a real success. There are so many exciting things to do in the woods and this group is a real inspiration to others showing how important it is to do things as a family."

Once the project is completed, Chris will do a follow-up with the group leading up to Christmas which may feature as part of a film project to be featured on the Visit Woods website.

If you would like to attend Sunday Family Man, please come along to Hill Rigg House, Lowhills Road in Peterlee every Sunday between 10.00am and 11.30am.

For further information about Sunday Family Man, please contact Debbie Unsworth on: (0191) 5868382 or The Woodland Trust, please contact Chris Affleck on: (0191) 5273333 ext 292.

For more information about how to get involved in your local woods in East Durham go to www.visitwoods.org.uk/eastdurham