Dressed as pirates, dads spent some treasured time with their children at a special event in Porthleven.

A "Who Let the Dad's Out?" morning was held at the St Elvan's Children Centre, to give dads and carers the chance to spend some quality time with their youngsters.

Specially designed activities such as face painting, African drumming, table football, table tennis and board games were enjoyed over the course of the event.

The pirate theme was also taken full advantage of, with many of the adults and youngsters dressing up for the occasion to enjoy swashbuckling activities such as a treasure hunt, pirate ship making and eye patch designing.

Centre manager Kevin Archbold said: "Research shows that it is essential for the emotional, social, physical and cognitive development of a child that all adults in that child's life have the skills and confidence to interact through play. These sessions provide the perfect opportunity for dads and male carers to do just that as well as supporting each other and having fun."

Sessions have run at the centre since December last year, which have seen between 15 and 20 adults and 30 children attending each time.

Mr Archbold said that there had been a 100 per cent attendance rate at the event, which proved there was a need for them.

"All the dads and children who turned up enjoyed themselves. They left clutching the goodies that they had made," he added.

There are now plans to hold sessions on a more regular basis - possibly every month, with a larger event every three months - as well as open them out to younger children.

The session was supported by the Cornwall Children's Fund and Cornwall Youth Music Action Zone.

A similar event is now taking place in Camborne this Saturday (September 29). The SaturDAD group from Trevu Children's Centre will be holding a sponsored walk in Portreath, meeting outside the Cantonese Restaurant, opposite Windmill Nursery in Railway Terrace, at 9.30am. They will then walk in Illogan Woods, in aid of SaturDADs and the Pirate Trust.