WHAT

Barnardos’ Babyfather Alliance /Fathers Direct one-day regional seminar on WORKING WITH AFRICAN CARIBBEAN FATHERS

WHEN / WHERE

September 21st 2005
10am – 4pm
Austin Burke Memorial Centre
196 Chapeltown Road
Chapeltown
Leeds LS7 4HZ
0113 2374287

SPECIAL DETAILS

FREE places!

The Seminar

More and more studies are beginning to show the centrality of fully engaged fathers in the lives of children. However the process of involving fathers and Black fathers in particular is proving challenging to both social care practitioners and their organizations. How do we engage Black fathers more effectively in Black family life and functioning? How can we engage fathers in policy formulation and service delivery? What do children need from their fathers? What strengths do U.K. African-Caribbean men bring to fathering? Is Black fathering the same all over the diaspora if so what can we learn? How is the picture changing as communities become less self-contained? This seminar will be an exciting mix of research and practice, chaired by Errol John New Opportunities Manager Barnardo’s and co founder of The BabyFather Alliance.

Learn: methods and strategies to engage Black fathers in service planning and delivery.

Exchange: ideas and experiences with other workers and professionals in the field, plus fathers.

Develop: a deeper functional understanding of Black family life.

• The scene will be set by the outstanding academic, theologian and film-maker Dr. Robert Beckford. Dr Beckford – responsible, among other things for the controversial TV documentaries ‘Who Wrote the Bible?’ and ‘God is Black” – will talk about the contemporary ‘Babyfather’ phenomenon within the context of black family patterns in West Africa, the Caribbean, and the UK. (“from West Africa to West London”).
• Celebrity/author/musician Patrick Augustus then talks about his books and hit TV series – ‘BabyFather’.
• Distinguished psychologist Dr Jeune Guishard-Pine looks ‘beyond father absence’ to focus on ‘Men in Black families: A view from a child’s perspective’, father-child closeness and fathering behaviors in Black families.
• Glen Richards, speaks of his experiences as a Black father in contemporary Britain.

  This seminar will be of great general interest, and in particular to those who have contact with African Caribbean parents or their children – including black community organizations, faith organizations, managers and workers in family and community services, health, teenage pregnancy, training and employment, adoption and fostering, youth justice and youth work, education and family learning, child support and family breakdown. The event is also a tribute to the Founding Father of Barnardos Dr Thomas Barnardos whose vision of giving children a better start in life lives on through the work of the organization today as they celebrate the centenary of his death.

For further information contact Neil Solo 07814 984 387 or via email neil.solo@barnardos.org.uk

Spaces for this event are strictly limited so book early to ensure your place

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