Grandparents Apart Wales Blog January 2015

2015 Happy New Year - Charter for Grandchildren

01-Jan-2015

Dear Friends

A Happy New Year to you all and hopefully we can continue to make progress in our efforts to change society in the interest and welfare of children.

Society can only be changed by debate and the reflection of new ideas and we have been in a small way instrumental in putting forward such ideas for consideration.

Grandparents Apart Wales placed a petition for a Charter for Grandchildren before the National Assemble in July 2009 which was well received but not acted on although many changes came after in Family Law that were similar to its aims..

The Charter was discussed in a Short Debate in the National Assembly in November 2011 and we were grateful for the recognition and substance of that debate even although the then Minister Gwenda Thomas AM Deputy Minister for Social Services stated that we had adequate laws in place to deal with family situations.

Gwenda whose comments we have always respected may be have been right, and that was never a issue with us, but the amount of anguish parents and grandparents suffer continually, was and we have received four new cases this past week which proves that laws and children's agencies are not eradicating or addressing the situation of alienation, as they would no doubt wish, and this must affect the wellbeing of children caught up in hostilities or at least in situations that are detrimental to what they would wish for themselves,

The Charter for Children gave them a voice and the right to be heard and one wonders if they are, and then if they are who is listening.

We suggested a Child's Contract, which never got of the ground but we still have some support for such a contract, where a child's future is written and agreed on by the parents with no doubt the whole families support before the child is born, so that any eventuality in the child's life is covered.

Should the contract not be recognised by the courts it would at the very least be a guide to the court.

In short every thing that we have thought and would wish to change is for the sole benefit of the child who are the ones that suffer when they are alienated from the ones they love, mainly parents and grandparents.

I have been involved in promoting the interests and rights of children for ten years now (March) and enjoy the support of an extremely loyal group of volunteers and professionals in Llandudno which is developing and having success in the courts. This is extremely encouraging but we are impatient for the changes that are coming, and the need for them to come that little bit sooner.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015.

Frank

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