Sunbury resident Nick Burnett is the facilitator of the Sunbury Dads group at the Sunbury Neighbourhood House, held each Friday from 4pm for local fathers and their children aged 0–5. Oscar Parry spoke with Nick about his connection to Sunbury and what he enjoys most about being a part of the group.
What is your connection to Sunbury?
I moved here from the United States last year … kind of looking for a better life for my three year old boy. Moving back to Australia was a great choice for us …. [we were] looking for a way to make a community and make a space for him, and Sunbury Dads was something that we could be proud of that’s special to us and gives back to the community in a sense.
What do you like about where you live?
I think Sunbury is perfect for family raising and [has] that kind of community aspect, being a place where a lot of new families move to for its affordability, its vibrant community, and its access to all those kinds of community things – like this dad group and other parent groups – that make it special. And I think that’s created because it’s got such a [family-oriented] atmosphere in Sunbury.
Tell us a bit about Sunbury Dads?
It’s focused on [dads of] kids aged 0–5. There is a focus on bringing in [speakers] who have specialities in certain areas like family connection and how to be a vulnerable dad, the tougher stuff like suicide prevention – because male suicide is pretty high – family violence and what it looks like in the family.
It allows dads a place to get familiar with each other … helping dads build the confidence in being out in the wild, engaging in social settings and branching out into other regular playgroups … [and] making the time to be a dad and spend time with your kids.
What have you learnt from other dads?
One thing I’ve noticed is we’ve really started to connect and feel comfortable and vulnerable around each other, and we’re all able to bring our own unique parenting strategies … it just provides a really good space for us to talk about anything that really comes up.
