Grandparents Plus is a national charity in England and Wales that supports and campaigns for the 200,000 grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and other relatives raising children because their parents cannot look after them.[1]
Due to various family circumstances, including parental death, disability, serious illness, substance use disorders, imprisonment, or domestic violence, relatives who raise children from within the wider family are known as kinship carers. As a result, Grandparents Plus changed its name to Kinship, enabling the charity to represent all Kinship carers and those in crisis.[4]
The charity, funded by the Big Lottery, provides advice, information, and a peer support network for kinship carers. It publishes research and campaigns for improved support and recognition for kinship carers and grandparents in the United Kingdom who provide childcare, arguing that both groups are undervalued economically.[5][6]
Film
Grandparents Plus and the production company My Pockets launched a film for Kinship Care Week called, 'Something to be Proud of.' The film tells the story of a child's experience with kinship care.[7]
"What If We Said No?", Oct 2010 showed that 47% of kinship carers say the reason for taking on the care of a child is a parent struggling with a substance use disorder.
