In episode 265 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Billy McGranaghan.
Billy is the Founder and CEO of Dad’s House.
Dad’s House is a charity which aims to make sure children remain the priority after divorce, separation or bereavement.
There are currently over two million non-residential dads in the UK and over 450,000 raising their children alone. Just in London there are 25,000 dads who are the main carers for their children.
Dad’s House support includes supporting all single dads, of which Billy was one of them.
35 years ago, Billy was working in a nightclub in Chelsea and his wife had just given birth to his son.
Billy’s then-wife had been suffering from post-partum depression and after going away for a planned three days abroad, never came back, leaving Billy to look after his baby son on his own.
Billy then took temporary and part time work in order to be able to spend time with his son and take him to school.
Billy admits himself he had no idea what he was doing and didn’t have any resources to support him back then like Dad’s House that would have helped him.
Billy took it upon himself to help other single dads like him and set up Dad’s House in 2008 to do just that.
Since its inception, Dad’s House provides a range of vitally important support services including: a family law clinic, a food bank, yoga classes, a support group called ‘Dad’s Table’, a breakfast club and even support payments for white goods.
Since its inception, Dad’s House has helped over 10,000 fathers and in 2020, Dad’s House had provided support to 70,000 families alone.
In 2024 the Dad’s House Family Law Clinic was awarded Winner of the Pro Bono Initiative of the Year award at the 2024 Bar Pro Bono Awards.
In this episode, we discuss fatherhood, the isolation Billy felt at becoming a single dad out of the blue, the journey of Dad’s House and all of the brilliant and lifesaving work they do for single dad’s in London and across the UK.
As always, #itsokaytovent
You can find out more about Dad’s House here.
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