Arsenal in the Community specialises in working alongside partners with expertise and experience around particular issues and challenges. In this article, Alex Charlton speaks to Social Inclusion Manager Jack Ironside about the popular parenting project 'Extra Time'.

At national level, approximately 10% of new fathers experience poor mental health during the prenatal period, according to Men’s Health. Furthermore 44% of dads surveyed were unaware they could also experience postnatal depression.

Combating these statistics is Arsenal in the Community. By teaming up with MusicFootballFatherhood (MFF), it recently ran the Extra Time event to provide a safe space for more than 100 fathers to come together and discuss the fatherhood issues they are facing in daily life with no judgement, just support.

“We have a role to play, and we think it’s a valuable one,” said Jack Ironside, Arsenal in the Community’s Senior Manager for Social Inclusion, told ConnectSport. “We work with partners who have a depth of knowledge and experience or expertise in that area, so that together, we can provide rich experiences and rich engagement for people.

“MusicFootballFatherhood is a group of fathers with lived experience, who have undergone a journey themselves,” Jack added. “They have trained up, skilled themselves, positioned themselves within that space to engage with men around fatherhood.

“The trainers themselves are happy to be vulnerable and share their own sort of experiences, but in a credible way. They're able to share from a position of empathy, a position where they are able to create trust.”

Arsenal in the Community liaises with Islington Council to reach out to dads in the community who could benefit from the event. After connecting with local authority services, fathers are invited along to the Emirates Stadium to engage in conversations around what it means to be a dad and the challenges it presents. Furthermore, it highlights the impact it has on their mental health, with a focus on the roles of a father and a man in modern society.

Jack adds: “We're not necessarily specialists or experts in these sorts of complex social issues that we're working around. Whether working around mental health, youth violence or SEN provisions, we try to work with partners who have a depth of knowledge and experience or an expertise in that area, so that by working together, we can provide rich experiences and rich engagement for people.”

Through speaking to Jack, it quickly becomes clear that the environment for delivering such an event was paramount to attendees feeling comfortable to share. While the Emirates Stadium is perhaps not the typical point of call for fathers who seek support, it presents an allure for those wanting support.

“We're talking about barriers,” Jack continued. “For them to say I'm going to go and seek help, or I'm going to go and speak to a mental health practitioner, or I'm going to go to the doctors... that might be quite a hard thing to do, but it's actually really easy. 'I'm going to go to the Arsenal' - it almost gives an excuse to receive that support!

“Having that space within a football stadium, or within a setting where men feel comfortable, you just get a really rich experience. The environment and the space that MFF were able to create on that day was pretty incredible. Very quickly within that event, people started coming up and sharing quite personal challenges.

"There’s this concept in society that men don't talk, that there’s a bit of a stereotype and there's probably some substance to that. But is it because there's not a space, or is it because we're trying to talk in the wrong way?”

While on the surface it may seem that the event just appealed to Arsenal supporters, Jack revealed followers of other clubs were also in attendance. The point is that football can provide an environment where people feel comfortable sharing with no shame. No matter what stage of fatherhood men are at, this is a place where they can discuss and share.

“There was a real diversity within the group in every aspect, in terms of age and ethnicity, but also in terms of where they were as a father. Some had newborns and some were older with grown children. It doesn't mean that they go home and all of a sudden they are a 'new' father, but they have had a space to listen and understand that actually there are other people who are experiencing the same challenges as them.”

Through attending the event, Jack says fathers have formed friendships and new social groups where they can support each other through change. As a result of the event, MFF also created a network of fathers who they can work with after Extra Time, meaning that support continues for those who attend.

Jack stresses that Arsenal are not the only club delivering events like these in their communities and that cutting work is being done by football clubs across the country. One thing that is clear is that Arsenal’s Extra Time event is providing fathers with a setting for support, and breaking down barriers in the process.

Read more about Arsenal in the Community.

Read more about MusicFootballFatherhood.

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