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Grandchildren & Their Grandparents are delighted to launch in National Grief Awareness Week 2-8 December 2024 the Grandchildren's Policy & Rights Centre here​

 

Following months of preparatory work, we are delighted and proud to launch the Grandchildren’s Policy & Rights Centre (GPRC). A UK-wide effort to secure legal, policy and practice change for all estranged and alienated grandchildren. 

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Although the GPRC was ‘born’ in the English Midlands in mid-2023, a sibling 'Grandparents United for Children (GUfC)' was added in November of that year. Much thinking, shaping and effort has gone into both campaigns, including developing a much wider grandparent offer and campaign for the last twelve months since GUfC report launch last November.

 

That work also recognised the challenges of e.g. establishing a telephone helpline even with funding available as it was not a viable or sustainable proposition for such a small organisation. That said, the launch of the GUfC report was an important milestone in terms of awareness-raising, and we continue to use the report as a useful public resource.

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We have taken advice from relevant public figures, family and academic lawyers, family court and mediation personnel as well as charity sector advisors. Additionally, existing grandparent community leaders continue to shape and focus our approach through the lens of the grandchild. 

 

The latter in particular expressed the need for an alternative approach as, despite various promises from ministers and prime ministers in the past, legal, policy and practice change has yet to come to fruition. We are grateful to learn from and build on their experiences.

 

Accordingly, our wider grandparent campaign ‘Our Grandparents’ includes our GUfC work as well as a set of broad self-help activities. It is now part of the Grandchildren's Policy & Rights Centre alongside the upcoming Midlands Model ‘Grandchildren First’ pilots to inform policy and practice change, a scheduled Lobby Your MP programme to secure legal change, and of course we continue with both grandparent and grandchild-related webinars’ programmes.

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We are excited by this significant progress in the last 12 months and we look forward to working with you as grandparents, families, professionals and organisations.

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Please update your bookmarks. We look forward to seeing you there! 

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If you are a grandparent looking for support, please click here for our help pages.