Commission for Children, imput to Family Justice Review.

http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/press_release/content_435

Jane

Website Viewers.

It is only a short while since the website went live, it is tremendous to see you far and wide it is reaching. Here is the list so far of where it is being looked at.

UK, Russia, USA, Australia, Ireland, Serbia and Italy.

Places in the UK are:

London

Wembley

Bristol

Lambeth

Worcester

Cheltenham

Kensington

Peterborough

Manchester

Sheffield

Northampton

Poplar

Thames Ditton

Southampton

Edinburgh

Birmingham

Maidstone

Norwich

Sutton

Stoke on Trent

Port Talbot

Northwich

Marlow

Nottingham

Rotherham

Guildford

High Wycombe

Poole

Swanley

Bath

Woodley

Waltham Cross

Camberley

Cardiff

Letchworth

Camberley

Langford

Plymouth

Truro

Rochford

Caerphilly

Winsford

Portsmouth

Brighton

Helsby

Leicester

West Bromwich

Ampthill

Rushden

Barrow in Furness

Stroud

Colnbrook

Gloucester

Macclesfield

Stokton on Tees

Shrewsbury

Evesham

York

Huntington

Preston

Aylesbury.

I hope that the information on the site is answering grandparents questions.

Thank you.

www.bristolgrandparentssupportgroup.co.uk

Jane.

Soldier still refused permission to see his daughter.

As you know TC is home for a couple of weeks from Afghanistan.

He has been back to court this morning to try and see his daughter and yet again it has been refused by the family courts

I have run out of words to say on this, and my heart goes out to him and his partner, family and friends.

The support he has been getting via Facebook etc, has been amazing.

It is time now for the government to legislate for Shared Parenting, to stop non resident parents taking control and not allowing the children their right to the love and care of both parents.

When a relationship ends, it ends between the adults not the children, Mum and Dad are still Mum and Dad.

If you are reading this and you are one of the resident parents causing this heartbreak, think about what will happen when your children are old enough to know what has been going on and old enough to make their own decision.

Will you still be part of their lives?

Afghan soldier home.

The young soldier who has been in Afghanistan serving his country, is home for 2 weeks R&R.

On Friday he will go to court, yet again, to try and get contact with his little girl.

The support he has had from his partner,friends and family has been tremendous,and I for one will be thinking of him particularly on Friday.

Jane.

Indirect Contact.

A grandparent rang me this evening to say that she has been granted indirect contact with her grandchildren.

You may think thats not a cause to celebrate, but believe me, it certainly is.

Indirect contact is better than no contact at all, so congratulations to her. Going to court is very hard and takes its toll, she is a very brave lady.

Jane.

MP's response re schools and GP's giving information to both parents.

I would like to thank Charlotte Leslie MP for forwarding a response to my question re schools guidance for information to both parents and GPs. And her continuing support.

Click on image to enlarge.

New website.

Many thanks for feedback on new website.

www.bristolgrandparentssupportgroup.co.uk

Funding success.

Many thanks to my local Neighbourhood Partnership who have granted Bristol Grandparents Support Group a funding grant,which I applied for.

So will be able to build on the leaflets, posters etc to reach more grandparents.

So many thanks again.

Jane.

Could you support someone?

I have been asked recently by several grandparents, if any members of the group would be prepared to talk to one another, via the phone. There are lots of people who are not able to come to meetings for a variety of reasons, working,distance, illness and immobility.

I will obviously never give out details ,data protection, stuff, without your permission.

I do feel there is a need though for this, so if anyone is prepared to support someone ,who might have no family, or if you could be paired up with another grandparent who has similar circumstances, it would be good to hear from you.

Contact me

jane@bristolgrandparentssupportgroup.co.uk

Grandparents Conference?

I am thinking about the possibility of running a conference for grandparents in Bristol who are denied contact.

I would welcome your ideas and to know if you would be interested.

Obviously this will take organising and funding, so am working on the latter at present.

Let me know what you think.

Jane

Young Soldier home for R&R from Afghanistan.

It is 13 days until TC is home from Afghanistan for R&R, and during his 2 week stay he will be going to court again to try to see his daughter. I sincerely hope that this time the court do the right thing for his daughter.

This country sends a young soldier out to Afghanistan to serve his country, but won't allow him contact with his daughter.

This must change.

Jane.

Interest around the world.

With the new website I can see all sorts of statistics. The site has been visited by people in 45 cities in the UK, cities in USA,Russia, Serbia, Italy and Australia.

I know it might seem quite 'geeky' but I find it fascinating how you can reach all corners of the globe.

Please forward the link and lets see how many more countries might come on board!

Jane

www.bristolgrandparentssupportgroup.co.uk

Jailed Dad for birthday balloon tribute.

Should this happen?

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3671251/Jailed-for-sons-balloon-tribute.html

Why am I running a support group?

Every now and then I need to think about why I am running a support group for grandparents?

In 2007 I saw my granddaughter for the last time, since that time I have had no contact at all, I have no idea if she is happy,what she is doing or actually anything about her at all.

When I decided to start a support group for other grandparents who are feeling just like me, I had no idea at all what would happen.

I have now been contacted by over 200 grandparents, I have emails asking for support, phone calls from desperate grandparents and the opportunity to get together at our regular meetings. I am constantly asked by the media to do interviews,to go on the radio/TV, speak to journalists etc, to attend consultations on changes to Family Law, something I never expected.

I had no experience whatsoever of speaking in public, but it is amazing what you can do if you believe in something so strongly.

And I do believe that every child has the right to the love and care of both parents and their extended family.

So that is why I am doing this, and I hope I will be able to see changes.

Jane

www.bristolgrandparentssupportgroup.co.uk