Kinship carers are family or friends who step up to care for a child when their parents aren't able to, such as during an unexpected crisis. I joined the #ValueOurLove campaign in Westminster yesteday which is calling for financial, practical and emotional support for kinship carers.

This week, I met with @kinshipcharity.bsky.social and Wendy Turner, a dedicated campaigner, calling for paid parental leave for vital kinship carers 💛 Today, I wrote to @katedeardenmp.bsky.social to outline why the Government’s parental leave review must close this gap in the law.

I'm sorry for making Nadhim feel unsafe but honestly my toddler doesn't sleep very well.

This week in Parliament, I met with Kinship UK to discuss the contributions of kinship carers and what more that needs to be done to ensure that kinship families get the support that they deserve.

After seven and a half years of weekly parenting columns for the Observer, today's will be my last. I started writing the column a few weeks before becoming a dad, so I've never parented without it. I'll miss it more than I express in words, but I had a go anyway. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Sorry, no, Motability was not about 'helping the most vulnerable' - it was about providing people who need modified vehicles modified vehicles!

The balance between acute and preventative services has shifted dramatically. E.g. children's services Spending on services like children's centres is down 79% in real terms, while acute services (e.g. looked after children) is up 71% That contributes to rising acute demand in the long-term

Lovely to join the Kinship carers event at Whitton Community Centre for #KinshipCareWeek. With thanks to Anna from the Kinship London group – an absolute force of nature & tremendous advocate for kinship carers.

Happy #KinshipCareWeek! 🥳 There's loads going on this week across England and Wales, but I'd suggest you start by checking out this incredible new short film which celebrates the power of peer support and community for #KinshipCarers.

The new #Kinship report is clear that much more needs to be done to ensure that all #KinshipFamilies get the support they need and deserve. I’ll continue to advocate for #KinshipCarers and their children in South Shields. #KinshipCareWeek kinship.org.uk/our-work-and...

Check out our @kinshipcharity.bsky.social new report - Handle With Care - published today ahead of #KinshipCareWeek, featuring key findings from our largest ever annual survey of more than 1,900 #KinshipCarers. #KinshipCare #ValueOurLove

I feel duty-bound to share this nonsense by Mary Wakefield for @thespectator1828.bsky.social but it does demand some sort of response www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

My latest: On the AI aesthetic, techno-millenarianism, and why the new right doesn’t understand genius.

Incredible that this is all the same article. How utterly pathetic

'Too often, government is looking for one answer to a problem that it can scale; the perfect pilot that can make a difference everywhere. It still sees change as an industrial process.' Electric blog from Vidhya Alakeson, Deputy Chief of Staff to the PM www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...

The Independent Group For Change (UK) is up for grabs again, for what it's worth

Really lovely shout out from former children's minister David Johnston MP highlighting @kinshipcharity.bsky.social's #ValueOurLove campaigning tactics and the impact this had on MPs and colleagues in government. From this week's Policy Unstuck: policyunstuck.castfromclay.co.uk.

Please make it stop.

I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

Bloody loved reading this.

Great to see two images of the Minister meeting with kinship carers and @kinshipcharity.bsky.social in this roundup of the last year!

Over 1.6m children are now impacted by the Two-Child Limit - 11.6% of all children This is a cruel policy that unnecessarily drags children into deeper levels of hardship It needs to go, and the longer it is kept, the greater the scarring effects on children's health and education will be

Minoritised ethnic #kinship families face heightened challenges, shaped by inequalities & experiences of racism. To understand how to support these children, we need to understand their views & needs. Our new funding call aims to fill this evidence gap 👉 foundations.org.uk/launch-of-ca...

Very welcome contribution from the Education Committee today with its children's social care inquiry report, including strong recommendations around #KinshipCare which echo our #ValueOurLove campaign calls.

Earlier this week we @kinshipcharity.bsky.social launched our 2025 annual survey. Really grateful to all those individuals and organisations who can help to promote with kinship carers and via your networks. kinship.org.uk/our-work-and...

Thanks to @appgkinshipcare.bsky.social for inviting us @kinshipcharity.bsky.social along to join this spotlight session. Our research shows that children in kinship care have a prevalence of SEND comparable to other social care groups, but are less likely to be receiving formalised support. 👇

Kinship carers make huge sacrifices to take on the care of a child, with 45% having to stop work. Whilst I am glad that the Government's review will look at statutory paid leave for kinship carers, we cannot afford to have yet more dither and delay.

Really delighted to see our @kinshipcharity.bsky.social policy and campaigning work paying off as the government today launches its parental leave review and confirms the inclusion of kinship carers within its scope. 👏

Whilst I was away on holiday last week (🌞🍹), the team at @kinshipcharity.bsky.social pulled together our response and a series of FAQs for kinship carers on the launch of the government's expression of interest for local authorities to participate in the Kinship Allowance Pilot. 🧵

Let the people of The North know a) our @kinshipcharity.bsky.social frustrations with the government's changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund #ASGSF and at the same time b) my undying love for @olafurarnalds.bsky.social.

"Three years after my daughter’s death, I obtained special guardianship over the children. Even after this, I was told I wasn’t entitled to financial support because the children had never been in care." www.bigissue.com/life/money/k...

Grateful to @sarahowen.org.uk and ‬@commonswec.parliament.uk members for engaging so thoughtfully with our evidence and echoing @kinshipcharity.bsky.social's call for the government's parental leave review to include kinship carers and deliver a new right to statutory pay and leave. 💛 #ValueOurLove

Premise here is that there is no majority British culture which Kemi Badenoch or Rishi Sunak can ever be part of, ie majority culture is defined in essentialist ethnic terms, so that British-born minorities, even once they are 2nd/3rd British-born generation are by definition inherently less British

It was great to contribute to this article in @thehousemag.bsky.social on the government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Whilst it delivers welcome recognition of kinship care in legislation, the actual provisions are fairly weak and the govt's impact assessment simplistically optimistic.

Reform’s “British DOGE” when they finish up looking at Kent Council:

This fault is endemic across the childen's voluntary sector. So many times I've heard campaigners (politely!) challenged by officials, parliamentarians or individuals from other charities/orgs but effectively conclude "if they don't agree with me then they clearly don't care about children as much".

Ahead of the government's review of the parental leave system, we @kinshipcharity.bsky.social have published a new paper building the case for a new right to statutory paid employment leave for #KinshipCarers. Do take a look! kinship.org.uk/our-work-and...

If you're a professional working with #KinshipCarers, join our upcoming Knowledge Exchange event on Mon 16 June to learn more about the new kinship local offer requirement, hear about best practice examples, and connect with others in the sector. 👇 kinship.org.uk/for-professi...

Something else which might help 'rebalance the relationship' is having... *checks notes*... functioning public services.

Important not to rush to conclusions here. Care population in England more likely to be affected by increase in the number of young unaccompanied asylum seekers and also by Staying Put, with young people staying in care beyond 18.

Written statement on the ASGSF published today: questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

Today we (@kinshipcharity.bsky.social) have joined @adoptionuk.bsky.social @cvaauk.bsky.social and @wearecoram.bsky.social to write to the Secretary of State to urge the government to reconsider changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF). kinship.org.uk/our-work-and...

Government is tweaking ministerial decision making processes (I know this sounds wonky, but bear with me) by no longer requiring 'nil returns' to write rounds - framed as "engage or get timed out". What does the change actually mean, and will it speed anything up? 🧵

Yeah I'm gonna need to see the full membership here. My money's on Jonny Reynolds as a closet Sondheim aficionado.

🗣️ Investigation call-out I’m looking for people (most likely care experienced, adopted, estranged or bereaved) who have had issues with accessing healthcare due to lack of family medical history. My @bigissue.com investigation looks to expose the potentially life-altering consequences of this. 👇

Extremely disappointed that during the Easter break, ministers have slipped out cuts in support for the most vulnerable children from the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. I have written to Bridget Phillipson to call for these changes to be reversed immediately 👇🏽

Government (2023): We're renaming the Adoption Support Fund to better reflect who is eligible and ensure more kinship families are aware of and can access this much-needed support. Government (2025): Noooo what are you doing not like that pls stop kinship.org.uk/our-work-and...

Strong 'fewer young people should go to university and instead they should be doing apprenticeships, but by that I mean someone else's children' vibes.

The Department for Education is looking for a new Chief Scientific Adviser - £120k, 3 year term. Important role, and one that might suit a social scientist www.saxbam.com/appointment/...