Since 2002, the wonderful Dads4Kids team (led by my parents, founders Warwick and Alison Marsh) have worked tirelessly to turn the tide of fatherlessness, which has been shown to cause significant social harms.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 870,000 children, around 1 in 6, live without their biological father at home. The data shows that fatherlessness contributes to nearly all the social issues facing our nation today. The statistics are grim, but there is hope, and Dads4Kids is leading the way, pushing back against the tide.

How do I know this? Because I’ve been there from the start.

I shared some of Dads4Kids’ backstory in a Daily Dad post last year (if you haven’t already, it’s worth a read). Dad and I filmed the first-ever Fatherhood Foundation (now Dads4Kids) TV ads, which go to air as Community Service Announcements (CSAs), at Cedars Christian College on the NSW South Coast back in 2002. With Mum’s help, we sent them out to every Australian TV Network.

23 years later, the picture quality of our early CSAs is ordinary, but the message and heart behind it are not. As the little boy says in the ad below, “Dad taught me it’s more important how I play than having to win the game. So, because I tried, I was my dad’s hero.” Dads4Kids’ dream is to continue making dads and their kids everyday heroes all across Australia.

Why Dads4Kids Exists

In 2002, I had no idea that 23 years later the TV ads (CSAs) we create and distribute each year would continue to reach and touch the hearts of millions of people.

Just last week, a young dad from rural Victoria emailed Dads4Kids to thank us for the TV ads. He graciously wrote:

I’m constantly surprised by how my 9-year-old twins respond (to our 2022 ads), mostly by telling me what they like about me as a dad. They also comment on how cute the kids are! We don’t have streaming services, just free-to-air. I’m certain these ads would be impacting poorer families in a positive way. Thanks again!

The critical work of Dads4Kids – encouraging fathers to help their children be the best they can be – continues. But we need your support. The work takes time and costs money. Amazingly, Dads4Kids is crowd-funded, not government-funded, as that often comes with strings attached. Financial donations from our wonderful supporters are vitally needed and very much appreciated.

This past Thursday night, Dad and I hosted the Dads4Kids Breakthrough Webinar. It was a great evening of encouragement and sharing with many special guests. You can check out the recording below.

During the Webinar, we announced a critical need to meet Dads4Kids’ end-of-financial-year funding goal of $300,000. Meeting this target will ensure Dads4Kids can continue creating compelling content, extensive resources, life-changing courses (including our innovative Inside-Out Fathering Program for incarcerated dads), and inspiring events all across Australia.

Yes, the needs are great, but Dads4Kids’ vision and mission to transform the nation by inspiring fathers to help their children be the best they can be is greater. By God’s grace, the work of Dads4Kids will continue, and we will see the tide of fatherlessness turn.

With your support, Dads4Kids will continue to:

1. Build Men

Unjustly, men today are often demonised by mainstream media and many of our institutions. To be clear, as my friend Ps James Dargin said during the Dads4Kids Breakthrough Webinar, “There are a few rotten grapes in the bunch, but we’re not all rotten. There are many good men and good fathers.” Indeed.

The fact is, most men are crying out for some encouragement! As another great Australian, Ian ‘Watto’ Watson, once said: “I have never seen a bloke go backwards with encouragement.” Our country desperately needs men moving forward, not backwards. With your support, Dads4Kids will keep building men.

2. Grow Fathers

Like building muscles or honing a skill, good fathering must be practised and developed. I’ll never forget the day my wife, Jodi, and I tentatively walked out of Wollongong Hospital with our precious newborn twin daughters. I remember thinking at the time, “What do we do now?!?”

Thanks to some excellent parenting courses, including Dads4Kids Courageous and Good to Great Fathering Courses, along with the incredible patience and dedication from my wonderful wife, I’ve become a better father to our five beautiful daughters.

The Dads4Kids father-growing community – along with our courses and events – is critically needed. By growing one father at a time, we will break the cycle of fatherlessness. With your support, we can continue turning the tide for good.

3. Most Importantly, Change Generations

It’s in Dads4Kids’ statement at the end of every TV ad because it’s true: Our children are our future. Without the next generation, Australia as we know it will no longer exist.

Ultimately, the beneficiaries of Dads4Kids’ work are Australia’s children. By building men and growing fathers, we will change future generations for good. This is why your support is needed today.

Lovework

If you’re encouraged by Dads4Kids’ work and would like to invest in the future of Australia’s children, please consider supporting Dads4Kids during our end-of-financial-year June Appeal.

Donations are tax-deductible, and for Dads4Kids’ vital work to continue, we must reach our end-of-financial-year funding goal of $300,000. Please, click here now to be part of giving Australia’s children the best start in life.

Yours for our children,

Nathaniel Marsh

P.S. Due to public demand, the early bird registration price for the 2025 Men’s Leadership Summit has been extended for another seven days. It now finishes next Sunday midnight, 22 June 2025! The Summit has been life-changing for me, and I’d love for you and as many of your mates as possible to be part of it. Don’t miss out – learn more and register here.

P.P.S. Thanks again to our special guests and all those who joined us for Thursday night’s Dads4Kids Breakthrough Webinar. Check out our Video of the Week below for more reasons to support Dads4Kids.

Please, give what you can today to ensure Dads4Kids’ important work of giving Australia’s children the best start in life continues.

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Image via Adobe.