With special guest:
- Nick Thorpe
Scotland has become a hotbed of reform in supporting dads.
After the highly successful Year of the Dad campaign in 2016 Fathers Network Scotland has again joined with the Scottish Government in the 2017 campaign called Dad Up. In today’s program we cross to Edinburgh to speak to Nick Thorpe who is the Head of Communications for Fathers Network Scotland to hear directly about the successes and what has been learned through these initiatives.
Dad Up began with an idea first pitched in a competition for students at Napier University in Scotland. The students wanted to continue the great work Fathers Network Scotland have done to promote equality and celebrate the difference a great dad can make. The concept was to counter the dated and inaccurate portrayal of dads as bumbling breadwinners that is sometimes seen in the media. ‘Man Up’ is an expression we are familiar with and the students moved from that somewhat negative approach to one of encouragement in the ‘Dad Up’ message.
As Nick explains to us, a benefit from this new approach to equality is that dads are getting to spend more time with their family due to a more flexible workplace while actually improving productivity with employers who support their dads. Nick describes this as win/win but unfortunately the message has not reached all the workplaces yet and hence the need for this campaign.
On a wider front, society needs to place more value and importance on the caring roles in our community so that everyone is able to provide proper care for family that might also include grandparents in their time of need. Nick even talks about a ‘cultural revolution’ in order for society as a whole to move towards a new paradigm of balancing earning/caring. This is with the ongoing support of the Scottish Government that continued to support Fathers Network Scotland even through the disruptions to the community caused by the Brexit vote last year.
Nick Thorpe is passionate about the potential to create a better world by involving dads and he has a well-earned reputation as an inspiring speaker that you will understand when you listen.
Nick Thorpe
An award-winning journalist, author and speaker, Nick Thorpe has written thousands of stories for a wide range of print and broadcast media in Scotland and beyond. For several years a travel writer with three highly-acclaimed books to his name, he has voyaged to Easter Island on a raft of reeds and boat-hitched 2500 miles around Scotland’s waters. A passionate advocate for involved dads, he is enjoying the challenge of taking the Fathers Network Scotland message to a digital world through text, speech and video.
Song selections by our guest: Light by Gungor & Never Give Up by Sia (from the movie soundtrack Lion)