Families Need Fathers Charity Profile

Families Need Fathers (FNF) is a registered charity providing information on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status. Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child's relationship with both parents.

We believe that all parents should be treated equally. Research shows that children thrive best with two caring parents, yet it is clear that prevailing attitudes towards shared parenting after separation or divorce are marginalising non-resident parents - almost always fathers - on an alarming scale.

For a father, family breakdown can mean the loss of his children (and in many cases his home), protracted litigation over contact - often involving substantial legal fees - and the shock of finding himself suddenly labelled an 'absent' father. Many thousands of fathers each year find themselves in urgent need of support but face scant comprehension of their plight from the caring professions.

The comment of one father typifies the situation a parent may face:

"I often find it difficult to explain to an ordinary parent living at home just what the loss of residence really means. From the day of the court hearing...you will no longer see your children unless the mother says so. You will no longer have a say in what they wear, what school they go to or where - and even with whom - they will live. You may see them for only a few hours a week, or once a fortnight at best...you may never see them again."

In response to this need, Families Need Fathers was founded in May 1974 and became a registered charity in 1979. FNF provides information through its publications and (increasingly) through its Internet website. Personal support is provided by a national network of volunteers who act as telephone contacts and local organisers, and regular group meetings are held in a variety of locations. The charity is almost exclusively dependent upon membership subscriptions and donated resources and has now been providing a vital service to distraught parents for more than 25 years.

As another father put it:

"There seemed to be nowhere to turn for support. Then I heard about the charity Families Need Fathers...it soon became apparent that there were thousands of others in my situation... Most importantly, I was encouraged to keep trying."

As a self-help society, FNF operates the largest network of support and encouragement to separating and separated parents at what is, for most, an emotionally distressing period. As a campaigning charity, FNF is widely recognised as the most authoritative representative of non-resident parents.

FNF seeks to address the problems faced by non-resident parents, and to influence public opinion by raising awareness of the inadequacy of the current family justice system and its effect upon divided families, both parents and children alike.

Families Need Fathers
January 2000