A unique fathers group left “absolutely gutted” when their funding was withdrawn by Richmond Council last year has re-opened in Twickenham.

Dads Unlimited found a new home in Twickenham United Reformed Church and offers a safe fun environment for fathers to take their children for a two hour drop-in session on a Saturday morning.

Founder of Dads Unlimited Shane Turner said: “We are very much about building and strengthening the relationship between father and child.

“After seriously looking around to see what support strategies there were, I found there wasn’t very much at all around for dads.”

Fathers were angered by the council’s decision to stop funding the group, which was based in the Stanley Children and Family Centre.

One father, who does not wish to be named, said: “They do a messy play now which is in the same venue but it is nowhere near as good. It is only an hour long and there is no interaction. The kids are just left there to play among themselves.

“I understand that cuts need to be made everywhere but if you look at the split between the amount of classes and refuges for mothers in the borough this was the only one for fathers.

“So even though they are saying they have a replacement session it’s a bit of a feeble attempt to be honest with you.”

The project has been running for a year and a half and in that time has welcomed around 150 dads and 180 children.

The group is now being run privately and relies entirely on donations.

Mr Turner said: “The United Reformed Church is very encouraging of the programme and values what I’m doing. It’s a bit of a culture shock for me to have supportive people around me. It feels absolutely fantastic.”