A man by the name of Pontus had moved over from Sweden to the Sunshine Coast two weeks ago. He was involved in a father's group in Sweden (as they are very popular there) but now he has no community or connection with any father groups in Australia. He saw the event on Facebook and decided to come along with his little son. He was introduced to the head of Dads of Noosa (who is also Swedish), they did the walk together and now Pontus is plugged in and attending the Dads of Noosa group which meets weekly.

Mark is not his real name.

“Mark is a single dad who came along to our event with his three-year-old boy Ned.  He said that being a dad is the best thing in the world for him. He talked enthusiastically about what a good kid Ned is and how he wants him to be a good person, to share with others and not be a bully.  Mark is on his own, he has no family around him and hasn’t found support for himself as a dad in our community compared with the support available for mums. He felt really happy to have somewhere to go on father’s day where he could do some fun activities with Ned and be around other dads and their kids, something he doesn’t get to do very much as a single dad.   He wants more events like this one for local dads where he can spend time with Ned and find support with other dads.”

Nicolas and Cynthia came from Singapore originally. Nicolas went to get a job in Australia and then the Cynthia came out a year later. They had decided they really didn’t want the kids growing up in Singapore and so had their first baby in Australia, without any family support. They had moved to Healesville however after some time had felt a bit isolated so moved to Croydon, an outer suburb of Melbourne. Cynthia wanted to support Nicolas in being a dad to their now 2 young boys, and to connect with other dads, as they didn’t have strong support networks over here. They came across MWAP Healesville which seemed to be a nice thing to do – the picnic aspect proved an important place to connect

This couple brought their baby to the event (their 1st and only child.) Their baby is very sick and they do not know how much time they have left. It was a celebration of Fatherhood at the event for their first Father’s Day, but could also be their last few months. One of our Volunteers, Kelly, felt drawn to this family and spent the entire day with them, offering to get coffee/tea, play games with the baby and sit and listen to the couple. She came up to me during the event and said “I’m sorry I haven’t been much help today! My heart just feels drawn to them and if it’s alright, I want to spend as much time as I can to sit and listen to them.”