Grandparents Apart Wales Blog Families Need Fathers

Charter for Grandchildren and contact from Petitions Committee of the National Assembly

17-Jun-2015

I have been contacted by the Petitions Committee of the National Assembly and been advised that the petition I submitted in 2009 for a Charter for Grandchildren has now been closed and is no longer under consideration. The reason I have been given is that events have overtaken the terms of the petition.

The petition in 2009 covered a lot of the improvements in Family Law that subsequently followed with different amendments and attitudes to children's paramount interests and in Family Court procedures.

I am convinced that had the need for a charter for children been accepted in 2009 it would have evolved as well and perhaps could have been incorporated in the Children Rights in Wales as a code of conduct to enforce what children themselves wanted and signed up for, to strengthen their positions and that of their parents and grandparents, children's agencies, organisations and the courts.

I am now in receipt of support for that charter as my comments about children, and my question asking, are they in a better place now than they were in 2009 has struck a cord with many of my social media friends.

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Law students

10-Jun-2014

Dear Friends,

I felt that the accompanying letter should be made public.

I have long advocated that law students should be involved at the sharp end and that this type of Social Justice be included in their academic studies, adding the value of life experiences to their degrees.

What better experience can a student have than to witness and meet the people who are alienated from their children and grandchildren and Zoe was such a student, with a brilliant future in front of her..

She was lucky to have had a work experience period with Ian Smith of Peter and Paul Associates. Liverpool who works closely with the Llandudno Branch of FNF-Both Parents Matter Cymru which held another very informative meeting last night,

Today at 6.00pm there is a meeting in the Senedd to which I was invited to but sadly I will not be attending, where the charity will meet with Assembly Members to try and find a way forward for the sake of the children involved.

If you wish further information just say.

Kind regards

Frank

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FNF BPM meetings continue in Llandudno

15-Apr-2014

FNF BPM (Families Need Fathers Both Parents Matter) meetings are proving a great success and it is hoped that those who attend and have themselves experienced alienation from their children or grandchildren will become volunteers and give people the support needed to help them understand their situation.

We are able to give free legal advice from Ian Smith of PAPA, Liverpool and have also been joined by a law graduate. So the signs are very encouraging. and I thank all those who, last night contributed to what was a very good meeting.

To those of you who practice Family Law it became apparent at this meeting that Court Orders are still not being enforced therefore they are treated with contempt which adds to the suffering of those denied access to their children and grandchildren but more importantly the emotional abuse it causes the children involved.

There was no criticism of the law or the Children's Act 1989 per se just the lack of understanding of some of the decisions made by the Family Courts CAFCASS, Social Services and it is those decisions that we are deliberating and trying to understand.

The Llandudno Branch has had the honour of welcoming members of FNF Both Parents Matter from other branches including the Wirral so we are together which includes our National Executive giving these matters serious thought.

As always your comments are welcome as we are dealing with some difficult, and may I say tragic cases.

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