Darwen dad's effort to combat social isolation among single parents

Stephen Walker from Darwen decided to create the private Facebook group, Single Parents Group for fun, socialising and positivity, after he attended a few Meet Up events and found there were a lot of isolated single parents and not much available for them.

Along with his friend, James Niven, of Preston, who is also a single parent, Mr Walker decided to set up some social meet-ups solely for single mums and dads.

Mr Walker said: “I researched some single parent groups on Facebook and just found they were all really negative, with people calling out their exes and being really callous, so we came up with this positive group where we encourage people to post positive things.

“Some of us go walking or out to Manchester together, and a few of us are planning a camping trip with the kids over Christmas.

“It’s like a network for single parents who might feel alone. And you don’t have to meet-up in real life. Some parents just enjoy the interaction online and find the discussions beneficial.”

Mr Walker, who has two children aged seven and 12, has also appeared on Darwen-based podcast, The Lancashire Hotpod, to speak about his group, and says he wanted to create a positive place for parents to organise social outings and discuss important decisions involving their children that they may sometimes struggle to do alone.

He said: “For example, we will discuss big decisions that involve our kids, like what high school to send them to, or how to tackle bad behaviour, or what to do if they’re not sleeping.”

Since they set up the group five months ago, it has amassed more than 400 members and Mr Walker says the fact they can bounce ideas off each other has really helped those who struggle to bring up children alone.

He said: “We’ve got two Christmas parties planned and we really just want to provide a place for those who feel a bit left out of the loop, and in most cases, good friendships can be made too.”