Hailsham grandmother calls for kinship carers to receive paid leave and allowances

A group of kinship carers campaigned at Parliament on Wednesday, July 12, alongside national charity Kinship – and Hailsham’s Wendy Turner made the trip from East Sussex.

Kinship care is when a child lives full-time, or most of the time, with a relative or friend who isn’t their parent. This is usually because their parents can’t care for them.

The demonstration aimed to raise awareness that, unlike parents and adopters, the UK’s kinship carers do not have statutory rights to paid leave or flexible working when taking on a child.

Kinship is urging the Government to commit to statutory paid leave for kinship carers on a par with adoptive parents in its National Kinship Care Strategy, promised by the end of 2023. The charity is also calling on the Government to introduce financial allowances for all kinship carers, as well as encouraging employers to deliver policies that meet their needs.

After the demonstration, the kinship carers entered Parliament to meet with MPs and share their experiences.

Mrs Turner, who has cared for her 16-year-old grandson since he was 17-months-old and her 11-year-old granddaughter since she was born, said: “You do give up a lot because you may lose your job because you cannot get the parental leave.”

The grandmother, who organises support groups in Eastbourne and Hailsham, added: “It is the inequality and it doesn’t seem very fair, does it? We are doing the same job but not getting the support.”

“If you are caring for a child and you have got to stop work it is only far that you get something.”

Wealden MP Nusrat Ghani said: “I am immensely grateful for all that Wendy and other kinship carers in Wealden do to enable children to continue living safely within their family and I was pleased to learn what more can be done to support our kinship carers in Wealden.

"I understand that the Department for Education is currently considering the recommendations to introduce a statutory definition of kinship care, provide kinship carers with paid time off work when a child starts living with them, and provide financial allowances at the same rate as foster carers.”

A kinship support group meets at the Hailsham Family Hub in Vega Close from 10am-12pm on the first Friday of every month, and an Eastbourne group meets in The Archery in Seaside at the same time on the first Monday of each month.