I became a Dad for the first time about 18 months after I moved to Leeds. I hadn’t really bothered seeking new friends in that time because my old friends were only an hour away, we were setting up home, AND WE WERE HAVING A BABY!
Then little Alice arrived and our world shrank to roughly the length of walking round the block. Beers with friends were replaced by bottles of Anbesol in the nursery, and suddenly I was in a new city with a new life… and a partner who needed a break.
It seemed like there was a playgroup or activity session every weekday for Mum and daughter but weekends for Dad and daughter would end up being another walk to the park and a queue for one of the swings before heading home for another feed.
Leeds Dads got us out of the house, reassured me that, yes, everyone else found the lack of sleep a killer, everyone else wondered when teething would end (after two more children I think that, seven years later, we might actually be there) and introduced me to a load of new friends.
Along the way I ended up as the de-facto social secretary for our regular trip to the German Market (and more sporadic nights out in between), helped to secure an appearance by Santa at the group’s Christmas Party and have been blown away throughout by Errol’s passion and dedication for his other baby, Leeds Dads.
