Kinship Care Week 2026
Kinship Care Week (5 to 11 October 2026) is a time to shine a light on the vital role of kinship carers – relatives and friends who step up to raise a child when their parents are unable to.
This year we are launching our new documentary photography series - 'Unplanned, Unprepared, Unwavering’. Seven families, seven stories, one shared reality. With only minutes or hours to decide to take on a child in their family, they all became kinship carers with no time to prepare.
If you are a kinship carer, join our Kinship Community to access free support.
New photography series: Unplanned, Unprepared, Unwavering
Created through rare-access photography, our new documentary photography series captures the realities of kinship care through the lives of families who have stepped in to raise a relative or friend’s child, often with little warning and no time to prepare.
To mark the start of Kinship Care Week 2026, we’re sharing a short film telling one family’s story – Rod, Julie & River – through images from the series.
Shot through the intimate lens of documentary photographer Saskia Albers, whose teenage years were shaped by kinship care, the series reveals both the love and the challenges at the heart of kinship care.
From the moment they say yes, often overnight, kinship carers provide children with love, safety and stability. But when taking on the responsibility of raising a child they make huge sacrifices – giving up savings, jobs, beds, food, time, homes and identity to step in when a child needs them.
Today, more than 141,000 children are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings and family friends. Every kinship family’s story is different, but they’re united by one thing: love. That’s why they step up when a child needs them most.
How you can support kinship families
Join our Kinship Community
Sign up using the form below and we’ll keep you up to date with the information that’s important to you.
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Campaign with us
Find out about campaigning with us for more and better support for kinship carers and their families.
Campaign now
Seven families, seven stories, one shared reality
Oly and Leasa
Oly and Leasa have been sleeping on their sofa-bed for five years so that their nephews, Jake, 11 and Luke, 9, as well as their son can have their own rooms in their two-bed flat. They immediately said yes – they’d take them in. They would do anything for their boys, but feel it shouldn’t be this way.
“Out of the blue we received a call from social services asking us if we would take in our nephews then aged just 11 months and 3 years old, otherwise they would go into local authority care. It felt like we had to make an immediate decision.”
Alan and Julie
Alan and Julie said yes immediately to becoming kinship carers but nothing could have prepared them for the challenges they would have to face to ensure their granddaughter Ella, who has additional needs, receives the support she needs.
“We’d just got back from holiday and were asked to go and meet social workers. They said we had 10 minutes to decide if we could take on the care of Ella who was just 10 months old because her parents weren’t able to care for her. If we couldn’t, they said she would go into local authority care and the chances were we would never see her again.”
Clive
Clive, a kinship carer to his 9-year-old niece Savannah, realised he had no time to prepare practically and very little time to emotionally process how his life was about to change.
“In ordinary circumstances, when you’re expecting a baby, you have around nine months to prepare. I had hours. I didn’t have a cot, a pushchair or any of the things you would normally have ready for a newborn baby.”
Rod and Julie
Rod and Julie became kinship carers to their newborn granddaughter River almost 40 years after first becoming a parent themselves. They had no time to plan and didn’t get financial support, which meant they had to spend all their retirement savings on buying a cot, nappies and essentials.
“We picked her up from hospital when she was five days old. We had to source everything for a nursery as we didn’t have anything. We only had the baby grow she was wearing and a moses basket.”
Josh
Josh, Kinship Ambassador and BBC Gladiators Champion, was just 25 years old when he and his brother Ben began raising their younger brother Max, who had just become a teenager, after their mother sadly passed away in 2024. Josh’s life changed overnight from being a big bother to unexpectedly becoming full-time parent.
“I had no time to grieve because I had to pick Max up from school and break the news to him, which was just as hard as losing mum.”
Heather and Nick
Heather and Nick are kinship carers to their four grandchildren – Jasmine, 16; William, 13; and twins Josh and Ariana, 11. Their daughter and her two children also live with them. They found the initial lack of support and information for kinship carers really poor and were forced to find their way through the complex kinship care system completely alone.
“We had to make instant decisions to step up and care for our grandchildren, but no-one was there to help us with anything. We were just left to get on with raising them.”
Alan and Glenise
Alan, who is 80 and disabled, and Glenise, 79, had no time to prepare for the financial, practical and emotional challenges that they would face as kinship carers to their 8-year-old grandson Tommy.
“Two years ago, social services came to us and asked if we would take in our grandson otherwise he would go into care. We had to make a decision then and there.”
How you can support kinship families
Join our Kinship Community
Sign up using the form below and we’ll keep you up to date with the information that’s important to you.
Join now
Campaign with us
Find out about campaigning with us for more and better support for kinship carers and their families.
Campaign now
Join our community
Sign up for emails to keep up to date with the information that’s important to you, from support and advice for kinship carers, to our latest news, events and campaigns.