EasyPeasy wins UKRI grant to draw more fathers into early learning

What's the deal? EasyPeasyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured a grant from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → through the Research and Development Missions Accelerator Programme to test new ways of involving fathers and male carers in children's early learning. The 12-month project, EasyPeasy Father Engagement at Scale, runs with Bristol City CouncilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Darlington Borough CouncilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, both existing partners.

What's the endgame? EasyPeasy runs an evidence-based digital Home Learning Environment programme for parents and carers of children aged 0–5. The project will adapt that programme to be more relevant to fathers and deliver it through Best Start Family Hubs, with the aim of building a scalable model that local authorities can adopt nationwide.

Why now? Fathers remain underrepresented in early years services, held back by practical, cultural, and structural barriers. At EasyPeasy, just under 10% of registered users were male at the time of the funding application — a gap the project seeks to understand and close.

What's the signal? Anne-Marie Canning MBE, Opportunity Mission Challenge Director, called father engagement in the home learning environment "one of the most powerful ways to strengthen children's outcomes." The grant points to growing policy interest in using digital tools to reach parents that traditional services miss.

Read more: blog.easypeasyapp.com

Image credit: Generated with Gemini