Read about Rowan, founder of Bridging the Gap, an online feminist movement, who is a single mum, aerialist and activist. Find out more about Rowan’s Patreon and what she does.

A time of year when everything from adverts to advent calendars send messages about how we should all be happy and enjoy the time with our families.

In reality Christmas can be fraught for a whole host of reasons. You may have bad memories from childhood; finances may be stretched; you may be on a pattern of co-parenting that means you miss out on special times; or you may not have a support network around you to ease the emotional load; and let's not forget social anxiety.

This World Mental Health Day we are calling on Government and funders to put a priority on organisations that support single parents and listen to their voices around the disproportionate impact that the cost of living crisis, stigma and covid has had and continues to have on single parents mental health and wellbeing.

Cardiff Women’s Aid offer lots of services for Women suffering any form of violence of abuse, including a 24/7 helpline, legal advise, counselling, coffee mornings, safety plans and so much more. Hear about they history, vision and their new campaign Rise and Take Action.

At the heart of everything that SPW does is coproduction and a peer led approach. Most of our team are single parents, we get all of our ideas from our members and we recognise how much wealth of knowledge and experience that there is the group. Therefore, if you come on board as a volunteer then we wanted you to get on board with what a peer led approach is.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to being a single-dad because each one of us is going through something very different to the next person. As every wave that breaks on the beautiful Welsh coastline is contrasting in size, shape and power so every relationship break-up and the emotions and issues that arise from them are just as contrasting. The following is a tiny piece of my story and some tips for other single dads.

SPW is actively committed to promoting positive mental health. As part of the Wellbeing Workshops, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, we worked on creating a framework and strategy for promoting mental health in the workplace.

SPW have been awarded £900,472 by The National Lottery Community Fund to lead on an exciting new project funded called A Mental Health Manifesto- Action for our future.

This project is in partnership with Public Health Wales, Swansea University, Mental Health Foundation and Heads Above the Waves.

We are sharing the stories of single parents, that all single parents will have a similar story to share. One of those stories that you have to laugh or you’ll cry at!

This week, Chris shares his story about one of the first times that he took his children to the beach as a single parent.

It’s really hard dealing with our emotions around being a single parent. We wanted to put some practical and useful advice around how to support children having nightmares, plus we wanted other single parents to know that they aren’t alone with tackling this issue.

Let’s have a look at why we dream and have nightmares.

Over and over again we hear our SPW members discuss how difficult they find managing conflict and in particular how they respond not react when one parent bad mouths the other parent to their children. We have put together practical and useful ways to approach this and react in a positive way whilst also supporting your child.

In this blog we have a simple way of ticking a few boxes, cleaning beaches and making a nice keep sake., by safely collecting glass from beaches.

Mary Atkinson is an ward-winning author and complementary therapist, is co-founder of the Story Massage Programme, a fun and inclusive way of combining the benefits of positive nurturing touch with the creativity of stories, poems, and songs. She talks about how this simple concept can help you connect and interact with your child.

The concept of love languages was created by couples counsellor Dr. Gary Chapman. He had noticed that people differ in what sort of interactions make them feel connected to their partner. In 1997, Dr. Chapman wrote a book with Dr. Ross Campbell about how the five love languages can apply to children as well.

There is a real fear and panic for single parents around the energy prices going up. The cost is going up over 50% by 1st April. For the average household that is £693 per year.

This will particularly have an effect on single parents. The media term being used by the media “heat or eat” is echoing in the minds of single parent households around the UK. 

Lots of single parents have already taken a financial hit with having £20 per week being taken away from Universal Credits, plus the hardship of unpaid child maintenance. The news about the energy will have a direct impact on single parent households across the UK. Hear our members’ responses, what the Government is doing and some simple energy saving tips you can do today.

Emily has a few hats that she wears including working on the Widening Participation Team, single parent and imspirational young person. In this spotlight Emily talks about the teams vision for young people, juggling being a single parent and what would be in Emily’s Mental Health Manifesto.

My name is Indigo. My daughter is Ruby. She’s 8 now, and we’ve been on our own at home since she was 1. Don’t worry, the amount of house work went down significantly from that point onwards! 

Over the years, I’ve come up with some time savings ideas which work great in our house. I’ve also asked for ideas from other parents and would love to hear your thoughts. Lets share and grow together! 

The world changed when covid hit and one of the resounding messages we understood clearly from the lockdowns and the restrictions on our lives, was that connection is vital.

Why is connection such a valuable tool for us parents to use though? And how do we make it really effective? Find out in this blog by our Creative Lead Facilitator Rachel Brydon.

Here is how to make a super simple meditation / mindful jar.