Grandparents forced to give up work to look after grandchildren.

Hi there,

I am currently interning at a Charity which help kinship carers. They give free help and advice to kinship carers (in particular relating to financial support). They also have a network of kinship carers, as well as free events which take place across the country. The website is www.grandparentsplus.org.uk and the advice line is 03001237015

Hope that’s helpful
Alana

Thank you

lydia the thread is entitled * grandparents giving up work under the work and volunteering thread.

Nellie my heart goes out to you

You sound as though you have had a hard time
Which was the other thread

I have just answered another thread on GN about this ,I am a kinship carer,and have had to give give up work and also my partner as well in order to attend courts,and obtain legal aid and therapy sessions and multi agency meetings,,etc but I have had to fight to get a residency payment which was only given after I became a special guardian which is almost adoption.
Some local authorities will pay and some won't ours was only dealt with by moving [Different story] and highlighted by an extremely good social worker who fought on our behalf...ironically herself a kinship Carer.
Our money is made up of benefits and the sabre is rattled frequently by different departments who try to get me back to work at 59...60 in December with a history of depression and a dependant child I feel that is a tall order.

Sorry that should have read grandparents

Tanith I truly believe we still have no idea how many parents are left without help

Not something I have had to do thank goodness but I could understand any grandparent who saved their grandchildren from being taken into care and if faced with the situation I've no doubt I would do the same. But would take all the help I could get from wherever it came including other family members.

This is a subject that I am very familiar with but not for a few years so things may have changed

I chaired an organisation in Scotland for many years which helped grandparents and fathers deprived of contact to children

Through that though I also helped grandparents get residency of grandchildren
I also tried to help Grandparents who were left destitute rather than give up their grandchildren to the care system

I had one grandmother looking after her granddaughter on a basic pension as she was terrified the authorities might take her away after her mother left her with her

I know that their maybe a bill put through Scottish parliament eventually to help in an independent Scotland but the issue is reserved to Westminster

If a parent dies in the rest of the UK then little can be done to help but if a child is in care and grandparents may be able to take advantage of the fact that they could claim as a child specific foster carer
The payment is varied but does exist

I set a precedent when I got this payment for Scottish grandparents when the children were in care in England