Case study: SKIP and Warehouse Dads project - Take time to be a dad - it's life-changing

This project aimed to celebrate and promote fathers and positive parenting by capturing positive images and stories so they could be shared with other dads, helping them to become the best parents they could be.

As part of its ongoing work, Strategies for Kids, Information for Parents (SKIP) was looking for more ways to promote positive parenting. SKIP approached The Warehouse see if the two organisations could find a way to work together to make a difference to New Zealand families by promoting positive parenting messages.

The Warehouse has 85 general and 45 stationery stores with 8,500 staff employed nationwide. They were interested in promoting positive parenting among their staff, customers and the community at large. 

SKIP was aware of a lack of parenting resources for men and wanted to find a way to celebrate New Zealand dads.

The SKIP team met with Warehouse management and their human resources team to discuss the possibility of running work-based parenting sessions at their Northern Distribution Centre in South Auckland.

SKIP and The Warehouse created a workspace for fathers, at Warehouse North Island Distribution Centre (NIDC) in South Auckland, to enable them to get together and talk about what it means to be a dad. 

Over a week, SKIP parent educator Alfred Ngaro ran several lunchtime and evening sessions with over 50 dads at the NIDC. Alfred helped create a space where men were encouraged to talk about what being a dad meant to them.

These stories, along with photos of real-life dads, with their children, led to the creation of a booklet that celebrates all fathers. This booklet was supported by posters and promoted through all Warehouse stores and on the Warehouse and Ministry of Social Development websites.

SKIP and The Warehouse also worked with DIYFather, a parenting website set up by three dads, to promote the booklet through their networks and through a specially-designed webpage on the DIYFather website.

Staff at the three Extra Warehouse stores in Whangarei, South Auckland and Hamilton liked the resources so much they offered the front of each Extra store to SKIP- funded community groups as a venue to set up stands and talk to Warehouse customers about parenting. The Warehouse Extra stores also included information from SKIP’s ‘Supermarket Survival’ tips over six weeks, in the free mailers sent to all households in Whangarei, Hamilton and South Auckland.

“This was an exciting work-based parenting initiative. There is no rule book or training manual so these dads got together to share stories, ideas, tips and photos about what it means to be a great dad and to help other dads be the best fathers they can be,” says Alfred Ngaro.

"This was an awesome opportunity for dads to share with other dads their stories of fatherhood. This was a process 'for dads by dads'. We wanted to move away from telling dads how to parent and instead share learning from everyday experiences; the good the bad and the ugly of fatherhood.”

“It was fantastic to see the dads get involved and talk about how becoming a dad had changed their lives, along with all the amazing things about being a dad, like seeing your baby smile.”

 “A strong theme from the guys was about how you have to become a man before you can be a good father, and sort out your feelings about your own dad.”

“The title of the booklet came straight from the guys – one of the dads wrote ‘Take time to be a dad’, and then another guy wrote underneath ‘It’s life changing’. As soon as we saw those words we knew we had the title of this booklet – it summed up everything we had been talking about,” says Alfred.

Ian Morrice, CEO of the Warehouse is pleased The Warehouse chose to support this project:

"As a Dad of three teenagers I’m well aware that fatherhood brings many great things to my life. But I know that it's not always easy."

• Begin by developing the partnership with the organisation, then proceed in small steps, looking out for opportunities as they emerge.
• Opportunities are often multi-layered – in this case: HR, mass media and storefront promotion aspects all featured in the project as it developed.
• Multi-layered opportunities can multiply the desired effects – in this case positive parenting messages were promoted among Warehouse staff, customers and the community at large with each component complementing and reinforcing the others.
• Engaging with businesses can be a great way to reach your target audience.
• All parents have valuable experiences and stories to share.
• Creating a space for parents to share those stories is essential for a project of this kind.
• Working in partnership with the dads and other Warehouse staff created a sense of ownership and pride in the project.
• Using real dad’s stories had a strong impact with other fathers.
• It’s important to ‘go with the flow’, rather than have a project plan that is set in stone.

 Case study uploaded December 2008.