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A young girl blowing bubbles with her grandparents
A family having a picnic in a field
Birthday Celebration
A child with her mother and grandparents

WELCOME

This campaign is about securing and enabling the rights of grandchildren to maintain and sustain safe, established relationships with their grandparents, thus protecting children from adverse childhood experiences such as traumatic loss.

In the UK, a grandchild does not currently have this right.

Why is legal, policy & practice change required?

 

Because grandchildren and their grandparents are experiencing a prolonged grief from the forced ending of their relationship. Based on our 2022 English survey, this situation is currently experienced by an estimated 2 million each of UK grandparents and grandchildren i.e.

  • an eighth of the 45+ population and

  • a sixth of the under-16 populations respectively.

 

This means that the sudden, unexpected and profound loss of a close (and safe) family member - known as an ambiguous loss - negatively impacts significant proportions of grandchildren and grandparents in the UK. The subsequent ambiguous grief is known to have both physical and psychological health impacts in the short, medium and long term.

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Anecdotally we know that increasing numbers of grandchildren and grandparents are affected with schools, family courts, lawyers, mediators and support services inexperienced in handling it with all parties. We aim to change this.

Grandparent reading his grandchildren a story

Raising awareness

National Grandparents' Day in the UK is Sunday 6 October 2024

 

We may be grandparents excluded from our grandchildren's lives, but we are still grandparents

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In the run-up to National Grandparents' Day, we are raising awareness of ambiguous loss and the significant impact it has both on grandparents and grandchildren

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On the day itself, we invite families to reflect, pause, think and hope 

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Like to help?​

If you would like to be part of our awareness-raising fortnight - grandparent, family- friend, professional - please leave your details via our Contact Us page.

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A young boy with his grandparent holding up a picture of a coloured in heart

"A third grandchild was born, but we were only granted limited access."

Grandpa and Grandchild Having Fun

"We didn’t see the 3 grandchildren for over a year which was devastating".

Grandparents and grandchildren

"Our son continued his campaign of ‘revenge’
against us,

1 adult in 3 over 50 years old is a grandparent
 

There's no bond like the one between grandparents and their grandchildren. When that bond is unexpectedly and often abruptly removed, it can be devastating for everyone involved. Grandparents United for Children is here to raise awareness and support for those who have experienced this loss.

Grandparents United for Children, 2023.

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