The Dad Cave

Stephen and Mark are joined by Corin Morgan-Armstrong, Director of Invisible Walls, an organisation which helps to rehabilitate prisoners through strengthening relationships with their families and communities. Corin discusses the realities of prison life, the impact of prison on families, and how it’s still possible to be a good dad whilst behind bars.

Ian Henderson from the Naked Truth Project, a UK charity working to open eyes and free lives from the damaging impact of pornography, joins Stephen and Mark in The Dad Cave. They discuss the growth of the porn industry since the advent of the smart phone, it’s impact on young people, and how as dads, you can start to talk to your children about this difficult topic.

Tony Sharp joins Stephen and Mark in the Dad Cave to talk all about Who Let The Dads Out? – A network of toddler groups just for Dads that was set up by Mark and Tony over twenty years ago.

We talk football and fatherhood with Swansea City Head Coach, Luke Williams. Stephen and Mark do a deep dive into his career to date and unpack the reality of juggling a high-pressure job with being a dad of two young boys.

Motivational speaker and dad of four, James Shone, joins Stephen and Mark in The Dad Cave to talk about how a routine health check in 2012 led to him needing emergency surgery for an advanced brain tumour which left him partially sighted. This experience changed the course of his life, forcing him to give up work to adapt to life with a disability, before going on to start the charity “I Can & I Am”.

Stephen and Mark are joined in The Dad Cave by Luke Meates to discuss the realities of facing burnout whilst parenting two young children, and what you can do when life gets a bit too much.

Simon Guillebaud, author speaker and charity founder, joins Mark and Stephen in The Dad Cave to discuss his experience of giving up the safety of the UK to live and work as a missionary in Burundi. He shares his perspective on choosing to bring up his children in a place once considered the most dangerous country on earth.

Ian Soars, CEO of Spurgeons, the organisation behind Dad.info, joins Stephen and Mark in The Dad Cave to discuss the eye-opening results of their nationwide survey of dads.

Guest Gerrit Bantjes joins Stephen and Mark in the Dad Cave to share his experience of being a stepdad.

Mark Madavan visits The Dad Cave this month to talk to Stephen and Mark about losing his sight and overcoming the pressure to always be a ‘Super Dad’.

Author Phil Knox returns to The Dad Cave to share with Mark and Stephen how his dad dying unexpectedly 20 years ago has shaped his adult life and impacted his own experiences of becoming a father.

Mark and Stephen are joined by financial expert Simon Martin to discuss living costs, financial pressure and budgeting tips for dads.

Mark and Stephen discuss Christmas pressures, the festive role of dads and cracker jokes in this Dad Cave Christmas special.

Mark and Stephen discuss fatherhood and male friendships as they catch up with author Phil Knox whose recent book “The Best of Friends” looks at that all-important topic.

Divorce and estrangement are on the rise in today’s society; Christian Sana discusses a childhood with an absent father and how he made the decision to reach out and offer forgiveness.

Dave Gordon is the father of two rising stars in two very different sports; water polo and football! He shares with us what it’s like to encourage his sons in their individual passions, and how he sees his role as their dad in nurturing their character as well as their talents.

In this episode of The Dad Cave, Tim Madeley shares his own mental health challenges following the difficult birth of his daughter, Hannah.

Robin Vincent, Chief Executive of Care for the Family, joins Mark and Stephen to talk about his children leaving home and how to let go of our children as they grow into adults.

Rich Muller opens up about how life changed when he became a single dad and talks about the struggles and loneliness of parenting alone.

Only a few months into fatherhood, Dan Ridgeon joins Stephen and Mark as they chat about the overwhelming experience of becoming a dad.

Talking to a world record holder about dads, father figures, and swimming the English Channel Tom Gregory, the youngest person to ever swim the English Channel is in The Dad Cave. Tom is also the author of A Boy in the Water, winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2018.

In this episode, Mark and Stephen are joined by Adam Hewlett as they talk about what it’s like to be a dad when you struggle with mental health and how our wellbeing affects us in the way we parent our children.

Dad of two, Oli Proctor, joins Mark and Stephen as they look at what it’s like to be a dad raising adoptive children, the ups and downs of the journey and finding ways to share the adoption story as a family.

Mark and Stephen are joined by Ugo Eboh as they discuss what it’s like to be a dad raising kids in a mixed-race family, the importance of talking to our children about race, and celebrating different cultural identities.

Mark and Stephen are joined by Founder and Chairman of Care for the Family, Rob Parsons. They discuss the busyness of life and whether it’s ever possible to get a balance between all those things we have to juggle in life. Rob shares lessons he learnt when his children were small and when he had a demanding job as a lawyer, as well as wisdom gathered from over thirty years of working alongside families.

Dad of four boys, Andy Packett, is our guest for this episode of The Dad Cave. He joins Mark and Stephen as they look at dads and hobbies, and why cultivating common interests with your children can be a great benefit to family life.

Only a few months into fatherhood, Dan Ridgeon joins Stephen and Mark as they chat about the overwhelming experience of becoming a dad.

Mark and Stephen are joined by guest Claire Burton, from the Kitchen Table Project, to discuss a dad’s role in the family. They consider whether dads are a ‘support act’ or ‘equal billing’ when it comes to family life.

In this episode, Mark and Stephen take a look at what it means to be a father in this day and age and discuss the question, ‘Is this a golden age for dads or is this a time of crisis?’