Almost 10,000 people have already downloaded our Bringing Fathers In #bringingfathersin materials, designed to help professionals from a range of disciplines work in ways that embrace and build on fathers’ vital role in improving children’s outcomes.

We launched the free resources – our most popular ever – last month via an intensive, global marketing campaign linked to three awareness days: International Men’s Day, UN Universal Children’s Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The Bringing Fathers In resources have appeared in a range of specialist publications, including the CHIMAT Perinatal and Infant Mental Health e-bulletin, NCB’s Early Childhood Bulletin; in eshots by partner organisations including MenCare and Unicef; and in blogs by, among others, Viv Bennett, the UK Department of Health’s Director of Nursing.

We will be continuing to promote the resources over the coming months, and will run some #Bringingfathersin Twitter chats in the New Year. To make sure you hear about them, sign up for our newsletter and join our 4,000-plus Twitter followers and 1,000-plus Facebook community.

The resources include factsheets on making the most of fathers to support their children’s early learning, support maternal and infant health, and reduce violence in their children’s lives, along with 10 research summaries and evidence-based best practice advice.

A strong body of international research suggests that positively involved fathers can have a huge impact on their children in all sorts of ways, contributing towards:

• better friendships with better-adjusted children
• fewer behaviour problems
• lower criminality and substance abuse
• higher educational achievement
• greater capacity for empathy
• higher self-esteem and life-satisfaction.

Fatherhood Institute joint chief executive Adrienne Burgess, who led the resources’ development, said efforts to improve children’s outcomes can be boosted significantly by harnessing father-involvement:

“Fathers’ impact on health, education and other aspects of wellbeing is enormous, across countries and cultures. Whether a mother has a professionally-attended childbirth, a child’s likelihood of being vaccinated and of making good progress in language development, can depend hugely on fathers’ attitudes and behaviour. By working creatively with men we can harness ‘dad power’ for the good of everyone.”

Gary Barker, International Director of Promundo, which leads the Men Care global fatherhood initiative, added: “There is a slow but very real revolution going on in many parts of the world in terms of men’s participation as involved fathers.  These resources are a tremendous asset to the program staff and governments around the world who are working to make equitable caregiving and father involvement a universal reality.”

The Fatherhood Institute and MenCare promoted three Bringing Fathers In #bringingfathersin factsheets to key organisations and advocates in support of the following awareness days:

• International Men’s Day – November 19: Making the most of fathers to… Support children’s early learning
• Universal Children’s Day – November 20: Making the most of fathers to… Improve maternal and infant health
• International Day to Eradicate Violence Against Women (White Ribbon Day) – November 25: Making the most of fathers to… Reduce violence in children’s lives.

Read our blog about why it’s time to Bring Fathers In.

Please share the resources to your networks

You can share them using this URL: www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/bringingfathersin; on social media please also use the hashtag #bringingfathersin.

We have prepared a range of resources to help you promote the resources to your readers, networks and colleagues, including eshot banners, themed blogs and tweets. Please contact our head of communications Jeremy Davies at j.davies@fatherhoodinstitute.org, who will be happy to help.