We have witnessed a weekend of extraordinary things, performances, surprises, communities coming together and Paddington Bear!
Watching people from all walks of life saying ‘Thank you,’ to her majesty for her years of service to her country and the commonwealth.
I wonder how many times we actually say thank you to those who make this life a better place?
At a time when the world is an uncertain place, this weekend has been so up lifting.
Whether you support the Monarchy or not, the coming together of so many for the common good has been so positive.
It is so easy to fall in to the trap of negativity, that we can forget that we all have so much to be grateful for.
In the last 15 years because of a time of great sadness for all my family, so many positive things have happened. I have met people and done things that I would never have dreamt of doing, if you are passionate about something it is amazing how it gives you confidence you didn’t know you had.
I would like to thank all of those people who have supported what BGSG do, for the years of support, some well known others not so well known but all wanting to change things for children.
On June 10th it is NSPCC’s ‘Childhood Day,’ and yet they will not publicly acknowledge the emotional harm to children/grandchildren caused by unjustified estrangement. I will continue to ask them why?
There is no doubt that there is far more awareness in 2022 about the emotional harm caused by denying contact than there was 15 years ago, almost everyone you speak to either has experienced this living bereavement or knows someone who has.
I am sure by now you all know my views on the Family Court system, I hope you will also know that we will always give support to grandparents going through the court process. I personally am aware of three grandparents who have taken their own life as a direct result of going to court, therefore I morally can not encourage grandparents to go down that route.
Family breakdown, in all its forms, should not be dealt with in a broken Family Law system.
For those interested here is just a few things we have been involved in the past few months.
: Wrote a quote for a book about grandparents.
: Interview with John Darvall
: Itv tonight programme got in touch
: Continuing with zoom meetings.
; Face to face meetings resume.
: Kinship, Grandparents Plus added our groups to their website.
: Over 180 calls to Helpline since beginning of year.
: Completed training on responding to suicidal callers.
: Blog published on Two Wishes
: Referrals from Mind, Silver line, and health community groups and GP’s.
:Donation of £500 to Jasvinder Sanghara for her campaign.
The future of BGSG is to continue in the way we always have, to give help and support to grandparents who find themselves facing the horrible situation of estrangement.
One last huge thank you, to all the grandparents I have met, grandparents who I consider to be good friends, without you BGSG would not exist, it is you who make it what it is. A safe place for grandparents.
