Our 841st Dad in the Limelight is Richard Leach. I want to thank Richard Leach for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing Richard Leach with all of you.
1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)
I’m Rich, a 43 yr old single dad and owner of Challengedad.uk. After many years of owning my own company within the leisure industry, travelling the world and genuinely not having anybody to consider but myself, I suddenly found myself facing responsibility, being anchored and having the single most important job in the world to fulfill – becoming an amazing dad. That was 9 years ago now, it’s been a struggle at times but has all been worth it to see my son grow and develop the way he has – I couldn’t be more proud. Not sure about the limelight at the moment, hopefully I’m building something that other people can relate to and want to get involved in and if it works for us, I’m sure it will work for others too.
2) Tell me about your family
I have the most amazing 9 year old boy, Samuel. He has been through a lot in his short life and has had to grow up pretty fast, He always has a smile on his face, always wants to socialize and interact with friends and absolutely loves doing action stuff. We live together in Ramsbottom, Bury and relocated here only a few months ago.
3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?
My ex-wife, Samuel’s mother has had a lot of demons to deal with and still does to this day, which has made it unsafe for Samuel to have a relationship with his mother outside of a controlled environment. The impact that this has had on him has been quite significant and I would say more so than if he had lost her altogether. Trying to compensate for this has been the hardest challenge I have had, sometimes I have overcompensated and been guilty of spoiling him and sometimes I have made wrong decisions but overall I have done what I thought was right and we are best mates and love doing stuff together. We have also moved area a few times now which has been emotionally challenging and I would like to stress the importance of having a good support network locally which then gives the foundation to lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
4) What advice would you give to other fathers?
Spend time rather than money, laughing prevents crying, give what they need and occasionally what they want, have clear boundaries, educate with a core set of values (truthfulness, friendship, trust, courage, perseverance, compassion, respect, forgiveness, generosity, thoughtfulness, selflessness, positivity and politeness). Most of all though LOVE and BALANCE is the perfect combination. Appreciate what you have, the help that is given to you and your family.
5) How have you come to balance parenthood and outside life?
As a single dad, with a limited support network, I found it increasingly difficult to balance my working life and parenting life. I have just given up my full time career in order to concentrate on Samuels upbringing and I am in the process of launching a lifestyle and social enterprise business which means I can concentrate on being a full time dad, do a load of exciting stuff together, meet up with other dads and hopefully provide a service that will not only help and inspire more dads to spend quality time with their kids but will also create a community and circles of friends who can go off and enjoy doing things together.
6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?
There are lots of ups and downs on this journey, you most certainly aren’t on your own, don’t be affraid to ask for help, stay positive, be a good role model, lead by example, listen and portray good values. The most important gift a father can give his child is their time.
7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?
A cliché I know but enjoy while you can, it gets easier with time and they don’t stay cute forever.
8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?
Nothing specific really, I just love seeing my kid happy, when he smiles and laughs uncontrollably then these are the most precious and memorable moments, we have a load of good memories and a load still to make. The way that he loves nature and his interaction with animals, the fact that he wants to make the world a better place and raise money to help people less privileged than himself and the look on his face when he achieves something.
What is Challengedad.uk
This is a site that is a work in progress, it’s not only for dads (moms can join too) and whilst we are trying to build up a range of challenges we need more ideas (large or small), more involvement, more interaction and more people to test and review challenges. The site is all free at the moment and anybody who helps out in the start up process will gain free membership and access to all the challenges. Contact Richard Leach directly for more information at info@challengedad.uk
If you have any questions for Richard Leach, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!
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The post Dads in the Limelight – Richard Leach of ChallengeDad appeared first on Dad of Divas.