Music project awarded £10,000 to support new dads in Somerset

An organisation in Somerset has received £10,000 of National Lottery funding to deliver musical activities for new dads and their young children in the local area.

Based in Bath, Evolve Music is committed to supporting dads to bond with their child through musical activities offered by the Dads Rock Bath project.

Developed in partnership with a mental health charity, the programme aims to help dads who are struggling with their mental health or who are supporting a partner with perinatal depression, providing opportunities for new dads to gather together to socialise and develop peer support networks.

The grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, will enable the organisation to continue its musical activities to help new dads to improve their communication, confidence and self-esteem after the life changing experience of becoming a parent.

Dads Rock Bath offers free sessions to dads across Bath, Bristol and Radstock, and is built around significant evidence that music can play a valuable role in supporting mental health, wellbeing and caregiver-child attachment.

The popular Saturday morning sessions are free to local families and provide an inclusive space where handheld percussion, world instruments, song and educational themes help to develop babies’ and young children’s communication, physical and social skills, as well as parental bonding.

One in ten* new dads experience depression related to pregnancy and birth. Babies and infants of parents affected by perinatal depression can often miss out on opportunities to socialise and play at a crucial period of development. When it comes to young children bonding with their primary caregiver in the first year of life, research shows the importance of musical interaction.**

The funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will now help the project to fill a gap in provision for men who are underserved when it comes to opportunities to build their own parental communities and support networks, with baby and toddler activities traditionally targeting mums or having a higher proportion of mums attending.

Annette Burghes, Executive Director at Evolve Music, said: “Evolve Music is delighted to have secured funding from The National Lottery Community Fund for Dads Rock in Bath and send a huge thank you to the National Lottery players for making this happen.”

The National Lottery Community Fund awards grants to strengthen society and improve lives across the UK. Thanks to National Lottery players, it will distribute at least £4 billion by 2030, supporting activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable. 

Over 500 charities and community groups across the South West have been awarded almost £20 million of National Lottery funding over the last four months***. 

Juliet Williams, Head of Funding for the South West at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players and the hard work and dedication of local groups and projects such as Evolve Music, this funding will make a huge difference to people’s lives across the South West. The quality of applications we receive speaks volumes of the care and ingenuity of local people - we’re delighted that our grants are being used to support great projects that strengthen communities and improve lives in our region in many ways.”

The award falls under one of The National Lottery Community Fund’s four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.  

The South West isn’t alone in benefiting from National Lottery funding. Today it was announced that almost £252 million has been distributed to more than 5,000 community organisations across England in the past three months**. 

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities. 

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk 

Date published: 25 July, 2023
Region: England (South West)

Notes to Editors

* https://www.nct.org.uk/life-pa...;

** https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/12/09/Why-Making-Music-Matters

*** These figures are for funding awarded from 25th February – 30th June 2023.

About The National Lottery Community Fund  

We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.  

We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK. 

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives. 

As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:  

1. Come together 

2. Be environmentally sustainable

3. Help children and young people thrive 

4. Enable people to live healthier lives. 

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4bn of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

 National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.

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