Janet Kay, Kinship trustee and support group leader, receives OBE

On Tuesday 9 April, Janet Kay, a Kinship trustee and support group volunteer, was awarded an OBE as part of HM King Charles III’s New Years Honours.

Janet was invited to Windsor Castle, along with her husband Pete and her grandson Jamie, where she was awarded her insignia from Princess Anne in recognition for her service to children and families.

As well as her work with Kinship, Janet has shared her experience raising her grandson and expertise with policymakers to ensure that kinship care is better understood and kinship families are better supported.

Kinship care is when someone steps up to raise the child of a family member or friend, because the child’s parents are not able to. There are more than 141,000 children living in kinship care in England and Wales, more than twice the number in foster care.

Janet served on the ‘Experts by Experience Board’ for the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care – which recommended greater national investment in kinship care. She has subsequently served on the National Implementation Board, providing advice and scrutiny of the Government’s ongoing plans for kinship care.

Reflecting on the event, Janet said: “I feel really proud that my efforts to improve services for kinship carers have been recognised and that my grandson was with me on this special day.”

Leading kinship care charity, Kinship, supports more than 10,000 kinship carers across England and Wales each year, through free training sessions, one-to-one support, peer support groups, an expert advice line and their online information and support hub.