Single Parents Day Walk in Cardiff Celebrates Strength and Fights Stigma
Single-parent families from across Wales united in Cardiff to mark Single Parents Day, participating in a community walk that celebrated their resilience, challenged societal stigma, and raised awareness of the daily realities they face. The event, held in Pontcanna Fields on Saturday, March 21, brought together families, children, and supporters for a meaningful stroll through the park.
Steps for Connection: A Wales-Wide Fundraising Effort
The walk was a key component of Steps for Connection, a Wales-wide fundraising challenge launched by Single Parents Wellbeing. This initiative encourages participants to walk 161,000 steps throughout March, symbolically representing every single-parent family in Wales. By walking side by side, attendees reflected the simple yet powerful idea that first sparked this community: connection through shared experience.
Single Parents Wellbeing was founded in 2017 by Amy Holland and Rachel Cule, who started the group as a small walking meet-up after personally experiencing isolation as single parents. What began with just two parents walking together has since blossomed into a peer-led community that supports thousands of single-parent families across Wales.
Voices from the Community: Breaking Down Barriers
Amy Holland, co-founder of Single Parents Wellbeing, expressed the significance of the event: "This community started with a walk, so to see so many families come together on Single Parents Day felt incredibly powerful. Single parents are raising children, running homes, and holding everything together every single day. But too often, they're made to feel invisible or judged. Days like this are about connection—reminding people they're not alone—and raising awareness of the support that's needed."
For many attendees, the walk provided a platform to openly discuss the persistent stigma attached to single parenthood. Rachel Brydon, director of Single Parents Wellbeing, shared a poignant example: "We'd organised a trip to the theatre through Single Parents Wellbeing, and a friend told me their partner didn't feel comfortable with them coming because it would just be a group of single parents. It wasn't said with bad intention, but it really stayed with me. It made me realise how easily single-parent families are still seen as 'different'—even now. Single parents are doing the work of two people every day, yet they're often judged in a way that others aren't."
Sophia, a single parent who participated in the walk, highlighted the personal impact: "There were times when I felt completely alone after becoming a single parent. Finding this community changed everything. Walking together today reminded me how many people understand what this life is really like. It makes such a difference."
The Broader Context: Challenges and Support Needs
Single-parent families constitute 1 in 4 families in Wales, yet many continue to grapple with isolation, stigma, and limited access to support services. As a community-led project, Single Parents Wellbeing relies heavily on fundraising to sustain its wellbeing support, events, and safe spaces for families. The Steps for Connection challenge aims to raise £10,000 to help expand and maintain this vital support network across Wales.
This event not only fostered a sense of solidarity but also underscored the ongoing need for greater awareness and resources to address the unique challenges faced by single-parent households in the region.
