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WITH Kinship Care Week just a few weeks away (October 5 to 11) Wokingham.Today shines a light on the vital role of kinship carers; family members who step up to raise a child when their parents, for whatever reason, can’t.
Local group, Wokingham Bracknell and Reading Kinship group wants to make sure that kinship families are better seen, heard, and understood.
It’s also there to support kinship carers in need of information and advice.
“Sometimes it’s another family member, and sometimes it’s a friend who steps in,” explained Paul Wassell, a carer himself, who helps to run a Kinship Carers group in Wokingham.
“Predominantly, it’s grandparents or other close relatives who become a child’s carer,” he said.
Care can be given on a formal or informal basis, but is usually actioned through a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), giving carers parental rights and responsibilities until the child is 18.
“But 18 is just a number – for us,” he said.
“The children will always be ours.”
Kinship care may be necessary because of drugs, drink, or a tragedy in a family that has made it impossible for a youngster’s birth parents to look after them.
There is often a strong desire on the part of the carers to ensure that children continue to receive a more stable relationship within the family, instead of being fostered or adopted in another setting.
When Charlie was born both his parents were drug users.
He and his mum lived with his grandparents, Bob and Sue, who both worked, but made sure they were on hand to see that Charlie was well cared for.
Eventually, with Charlie’s mum unable to provide for his care, Bob and Sue applied for a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), and when his mum moved into her own place they became Charlie’s kinship carers.
They found support and advice at national charity Kinship Carers, an organisation dedicated to supporting any carers of children, whether related to the child, or a close family friend.
“Every carer’s story is individual but there are themes running through what kinship carers do,” Paul said.
Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell Kinship group meets at Wokingham Fire Station, on the third Monday of each month, during school terms, at 11am.
It is open to all kinship carers in the Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell area, and offers a chance for kinship carers to meet, listen and support each other.
The next event will be on Monday, September 21.
Members will also be at the Wokingham Local Offer Live event, an information and fun day for families with children with special needs, which will be held at St Crispin’s School on Saturday, October 10, from 10.30am until 3pm.
For information, visit: kinship.org.uk and sendvoiceswokingham.org.uk
