A father-of-one who struggled to cope after the birth of his daughter has set up a networking group for dads in Lancashire.

Graham Sims, who lives in Preston, runs the Lancashire arm of international group The Dadsnet, and is seeking to attract more dads from East Lancashire.

Mr Sims, 38, said: "We've already got 27 members from Blackburn, 15 from Burnley, and 15 from Darwen, as well as 12 from Accrington but I'm looking at growing the group even more across East Lancs."

Much like Mumsnet, the Dadsnet is a community which aims to connect like-minded fathers around the globe online and face-to-face.

The group can share anything from original content to funny videos to expert advice and plenty of discussions, as well as offering support, encouragement and insight to the the struggles of fatherhood.

Mr Sims said: "When I became a father I struggled to get into the swing of it and after scouring the internet for advice I came across Dadsnet.

"I got amazing advice and had conversations with some great dads around the world.

"After some time I wanted to give something back, so I became an ambassador for them to help spread the word and now I run my own group for them in Lancashire.

"The Dadsnet is an international group with over 13,000 members and has regional subgroups called local communities.

"I set Lancashire up in October last year and currently have 607 members and we are rapidly growing at an amazing rate."

The peer-to-peer support group have meet-ups every month which involve mums, dads, and kids, as well as regular events such as weekly kickabouts.

And Mr Sims is hoping to launch more events in the coming months with his sights set on East Lancashire.

The student accommodation officer said: "We are looking to bring in new members across East Lancashire, and want to begin to host more regular events in Blackburn and the Ribble Valley."

For more information on how to get involved, visit, Lancashire - The Dadsnet Local Community on Facebook.