Kinship carers to their three grandchildren

Before I found Kinship I was at breaking point with my youngest and completely burnt out fighting for more support for her education. I had also found out that the twins were four years behind in their learning than where they should have been. When we got the SGO, I learned about Kinship and the advice, training and peer support groups they provide. I phone their advice service to get more information about Universal Credit and Child Benefit. This was so helpful that I decided to go along to their online workshops as part of their training for kinship carers.

I went along to Kinship’s ‘Supporting your child’s education’ workshop for kinship carers because I needed help with the education of my grandchildren. They were struggling in school because of their extra needs which weren’t diagnosed on top of their issues with trauma and attachment due to their mum passing away and their short time is a foster care placement away from family.

The education workshop was life changing. Amanda, a former social worker who led the training, was outstanding. This has helped me immensely, giving me all the information I needed for better education outcomes from the grandchildren. I couldn’t believe how much I learned during that one session with her. I have since attended other workshops, including one about managing stress, which have been very helpful.

Now the grandchildren are thriving and life is much calmer and settled. The twins are in a school with specialist support and they all have an EHCP plan. Amanda’s training was what gave me the confidence to ask for what the girls needed. She told me that I had more power than I realised. Another kinship carer who I later met in a Kinship support group offered to support me talking to the school, but I actually told her that I didn’t need her because I was now armed with so much knowledge that I felt I could do it alone.

If we hadn’t have found Kinship we would still be struggling. I was burnt out and at crisis point. We thought we were the problem. However, just after two weeks in her new school everything changed for the better. She is so much happier and feels supported at school. The training saved us.

The workshops are very unique because as well as listening to the facilitator’s expertise, there is time to hear about the experiences of other kinship carers and ask questions. You learn so much about so many different aspects of kinship care and the available support. I’m part of a WhatsApp group of kinship carers so I can easily hear about upcoming workshops, as well as drop a question if I need to.

Knowing that I have access to Kinship surpasses any other kind of support I’ve ever had in the past. The workshops and support groups are helping my partner and I raise the girls to the best of our abilities. We’re not second guessing. We’re also no longer on our own. We rarely see our regular friends – we mostly just keep in touch via phone – because we need to look after the girls 24/7. However, we now are able to meet up with our friends from our Kinship support group. We’ve got a village. We know there are millions of kinship carers out there just like us.