Dad's the word at a new group launched in Weymouth.

Dan Roads, 30, has started a new group called Dads in Dorset.

The aim is to bring together dads and their children once a month to take part in an activity and learn some new skills. And for the first outing they’ll be getting some hairdressing tips.

Mr Roads said: “I know it can be quite daunting for dads to meet other people, so I want to keep the group really chilled, there’s no pressure. It’s all going to be fun and games.”

Mr Roads is father to his daughter Ruby, aged five.

He explained why he started the group and said: “I had some time off from work the other day and thought – what should I do? So I went down to the arcade with my daughter and thought this would be even better if we had some other dads here too.

“I then decided to set up a group on Facebook and once a month we will be going out and doing fun things with our children. There are already 100 members and our first meet up is this week.”

Mr Roads, who says he is useless at plaiting his daughter’s hair, has decided to take the group to local hairdressers Elysian in Dorchester Road to get some tips for the first outing.

“I asked around a few local hairdressers but Elysian was the first ones that got back to me, they loved the idea.”

He said his daughter Ruby was really excited about the meet-up.

“We have decided to go to the local hairdressers and get them to show us how to sort the girls’ hair properly. I know I’m terrible at doing plaits.”

He added: “When I go out with my daughter, we go the usual places like the park and I thought – there’s got to be dads in the same boat, thinking what should we do, so I thought why not get everyone together and do some sort of activity?

“It will always be a free event. We’re in the planning stages at the moment, but in the future we’re hoping to go to Sandworld and the Palm House Café.

“We also thought we would make a charity donation, this time to the Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for children with cancer.”

Little Princess Trust provide real hair wigs to children and young people with hair loss mainly due to cancer.

To find out more about the charity visit www.littleprincesses.org.uk Dads in Dorset will be meeting on Saturday, February 1 at Elysian Hair and Beauty from 3pm to 4pm.