Fathers Together podcast

Dr. Anita Mehay & Professor Richard Watt with the Race Equality Foundation
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Fathers Together is a podcast about young dads, imprisonment, and what it means to hold onto love, identity, and hope in the toughest of places. Hosted by Roifield Brown, this deeply human series shares the real stories of five fathers from racially minoritised communities who became dads young and served time behind bars. Through interviews, reflection, and expert insights, the podcast explores how they stayed connected to their children, what they lost, and what they’re fighting to rebuild. From bedtime stories told over the phone to the emotional cost of silence and stigma, Fathers Together shines a light on voices too often left out of the conversation on prisons, parenting, and masculinity. Developed in collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation and based on research led by Dr. Anita Mehay and Professor Richard Watt, this podcast is part of a wider NIHR-funded study working to co-design parenting support with fathers inside five English prisons. The Fathers Together is hosted by Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. These are stories of rupture and repair. Of accountability and love. Of fatherhood behind bars — and what comes after. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. EP - 5: Tamym, Love, resilience and a father’s return

    10/15/2025

    EP - 5: Tamym, Love, resilience and a father’s return

    In this fifth and final episode of Fathers Together, we meet Tamym, who reflects on his life journey from childhood in Mauritius and England to imprisonment and the difficult work of rebuilding afterwards. He shares how struggles with cultural identity, a strained relationship with his father, and the pull of criminal associations led him into destructive choices. Prison was both transformative and deeply painful, marked also by the loss of his mother and fractured family ties. Tamym’s partner offers her perspective on raising their children and holding the marriage together through the separation. Together, they speak candidly about grief, resilience, and how a parenting programme helped them to rebuild their family life. Tamym’s story is one of endurance and return — finding strength in love, in fatherhood, and in the hope of creating something better for his family. Joining host Roifield Brown are Dr Anita Mehay, who leads the Fathers Together study, and Leandra Box, Deputy CEO of the Race Equality Foundation. They discuss the disproportionate impact of imprisonment on Black, Asian and racially minoritised families, and what this means for children and women left behind. Learn more and follow the study: Website: www.fatherstogether.co.uk Linkt.ee: https://linktr.ee/FathersTogether YouTube: @TogetherFathers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min
  2. EP – 4: Clifton, Cycles of loss and renewal

    09/15/2025

    EP – 4: Clifton, Cycles of loss and renewal

    In this fourth episode of Fathers Together, we meet Clifton, a father and entrepreneur whose life has been marked by both struggle and transformation. Growing up between Sierra Leone and the UK, Clifton speaks candidly about childhood pain, the absence of his father, and how unresolved hurt and ego pulled him into crime from a young age.   He reflects on the cycles of arrest and imprisonment that followed, the painful distance this created with his daughters, and the weight of repeating the very absence he once endured. Yet fatherhood and a profound spiritual awakening became turning points. Today, Clifton runs a fashion brand named after his daughter and mentors others, determined to break generational patterns of harm and rebuild life on new terms.   Joining host Roifield Brown are Dr Anita Mehay, who leads the Fathers Together study, and Leandra Box, Deputy CEO of the Race Equality Foundation. They discuss why reoffending rates remain so high among young adults in prison, the need for change in how prisons support fathers, and how adversities in childhood and communities shape resilience across generations.   Learn more and follow the study:   Website: www.fatherstogether.co.uk Linkt.ee: https://linktr.ee/FathersTogether YouTube: @TogetherFathers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min
  3. EP – 3: Kevin, Breaking the Silence of Being a Man

    08/15/2025

    EP – 3: Kevin, Breaking the Silence of Being a Man

    In this third episode of Fathers Together, we meet Kevin who shares his deeply personal journey of growing up without a father figure, navigating fractured relationships, and facing the long shadow cast by prison.   Kevin reflects on the emotional toll of incarceration, including the loneliness that followed his release and the stigma that still lingers—from strained family ties to barriers in employment and even opening a bank account. He speaks openly about the impact of childhood trauma, his efforts to rebuild family connections, and how he’s learned to find self-worth and healing from within.   While Kevin’s relationships with his children and mother remain complex and distant, he shares how the Fathers Together group has become a rare space of emotional safety and kinship—offering him something he never had: a space to talk, reflect, and feel understood.   Joining host Roifield Brown is Dr Anita Mehay, who leads the Fathers Together study. They discuss the lack of emotional spaces—especially in prison—for men to explore their emotions, the long-lasting effects of paternal absence, and why stereotypes around masculinity often prevent men from becoming the fathers they want to be. They also unpack how cycles of harm don’t follow a simple path but are deeply linked to broader adversities in children’s lives.   Learn more and follow the study: Website: www.fatherstogether.co.uk YouTube: @TogetherFathers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min
  4. EP – 2: Honor, Fatherhood Frozen in Time

    07/15/2025

    EP – 2: Honor, Fatherhood Frozen in Time

    In this second episode of Fathers Together, we meet Honor, a father and DJ whose son was born just days before he was sentenced to prison. He reflects on growing up with a hardworking but emotionally distant father, and how he’s tried to break that cycle by being more present and emotionally available for his own children. Separated from his newborn, Honor and his partner built a deeper connection through handwritten letter that helped them stay close despite the distance. He speaks candidly about preparing for release, taking parenting courses, and learning how to be a father from behind bars. But just as he began to rebuild life on the outside, things didn’t unfold the way he had hoped with his son. Honor shares how he navigated the challenges that followed—leaning into community, holding on to love, and embracing the responsibility and lessons of fatherhood that continue to shape him today. Joining host Roifield Brown are Dr Anita Mehay, who leads the Fathers Together study, and Leandra Box from the Race Equality Foundation. They discuss how parenting programmes can meaningfully engage fathers, and why creating spaces for men to reflect on fatherhood is so vital. Learn more and follow the study: Website: www.fatherstogether.co.uk YouTube: @TogetherFathers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min
  5. EP - 1: Julian, Becoming a Father Behind Bars

    06/15/2025

    EP - 1: Julian, Becoming a Father Behind Bars

    In this first episode of Fathers Together, we meet Julian, who became a young dad while serving a prison sentence. He reflects on growing up without a present father, battling addiction, and how prison shaped the man and father he is today. His partner Davinia shares how she held their family together during his time inside, raising three children and finding creative ways to stay connected like playing hide-and-seek over a smuggled phone. Joining host Roifield Brown are Dr Anita Mehay, who leads the Fathers Together study, and Leandra Box, Deputy CEO of the Race Equality Foundation. They unpack how the justice system disproportionately affects racially minoritised communities and share insights from their groundbreaking work supporting young fathers in prison.   Subscribe and listen to this powerful series exploring fatherhood, forgiveness, and the fight for change. Learn more and follow the study: Website: www.fatherstogether.co.uk YouTube: @TogetherFathers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    47 min

  6. 06/12/2025

    Fathers Together – Series Trailer

    What does it mean to be a father when you’re locked away from your child? In this powerful series trailer, we introduce Fathers Together, a podcast about young dads navigating parenthood from prison. Through real voices and raw reflections, we hear how five men stayed connected to their children through letters, phone calls, and determination even while serving time. Set against a backdrop of overrepresentation of racially minoritised communities in UK prisons, this podcast explores love, shame, silence, and the slow work of reconnection. Based on a research study led by Dr. Anita Mehay and Professor Richard Watt, and supported by the Race Equality Foundation, Fathers Together brings the hidden stories of incarcerated fathers to light. This trailer is a glimpse into stories of rupture and repair — of fatherhood in the hardest places. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    2 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

Fathers Together is a podcast about young dads, imprisonment, and what it means to hold onto love, identity, and hope in the toughest of places. Hosted by Roifield Brown, this deeply human series shares the real stories of five fathers from racially minoritised communities who became dads young and served time behind bars. Through interviews, reflection, and expert insights, the podcast explores how they stayed connected to their children, what they lost, and what they’re fighting to rebuild. From bedtime stories told over the phone to the emotional cost of silence and stigma, Fathers Together shines a light on voices too often left out of the conversation on prisons, parenting, and masculinity. Developed in collaboration with the Race Equality Foundation and based on research led by Dr. Anita Mehay and Professor Richard Watt, this podcast is part of a wider NIHR-funded study working to co-design parenting support with fathers inside five English prisons. The Fathers Together is hosted by Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. These are stories of rupture and repair. Of accountability and love. Of fatherhood behind bars — and what comes after. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Anita Mehay & Professor Richard Watt with the Race Equality Foundation
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 The Race Equality Foundation, St George’s, University of London
  • Show Website
    Fathers Together podcast