http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.33 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/ http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=658 ]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=658 Sun, 5 Feb 2012 21:33:34 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=657 Rffj spokesman Ray Barry spoke to Premier Radio yesterday, during an item about fathers rights.

Listen again here Premier Radio
Children to have rights in parent separation
February 3, 2012

New rules will see all children given the right to see both parents if they split up.

It's understood the 1989 Children Act will be rewritten meaning the courts will make sure youngster stay in contact with their guardians unless their welfare is threatened.

Ray Barry is a Christian from the group Real Fathers for Justice.

He tells Premier keeping dads in contact with their children is vital.
>Link<]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=657 Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:14:52 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=656 Rffj say: Some hope for fathers, but until a level playing field truly exists in family law, then the campaign will go on.

Children are for the first time to be given the legal right to have a proper relationship with both their parents after a divorce, The Telegraph can disclose.

Eight per cent of single parents in Britain are fathers
By Christopher Hope, Telegraph Senior Political Correspondent
02 Feb 2012

Ministers intend to rewrite the law in an attempt to ensure that fathers get improved access to their offspring after a marriage breaks down.

Currently, family courts decide to leave children with their mothers in the vast majority of divorce cases.

Campaigners have long complained that without a legal right to see their children, fathers can be excluded, particularly when a split has been acrimonious. By creating the new right for children, ministers hope that judges ruling on custody disputes will ensure more equal access for both parents.

A ministerial working group will be announced on Monday to decide how the Children’s Act 1989 needs to be amended.

According to the Office for National Statistics, one in three children, equivalent to 3.8 million, lives without their father. Ministers are particularly concerned about boys growing up without a strong male influence.

Eight per cent of single parents in Britain are fathers.

The announcement will give hope to campaign groups that have argued for years that fathers deserve a legal right to more equal access after a divorce.

It will also overturn the main finding of an independent official review into family justice by David Norgrove, which reported in November. He concluded that it would be too onerous for judges to ensure greater equality of access.

Ministers are bracing themselves for a backlash from single mothers’ groups that are concerned about the possibility of aggressive fathers intervening in the lives of their children.

The working group, comprising education ministers Tim Loughton and Sarah Teather, and justice minister Jonathan Djanogly, has been asked to come up with proposals on how the law should be changed within two months.


Campaign group Fathers4Justice claims that every day 200 children lose contact with their fathers because of decisions taken in family courts. Under the plans the 1989 Act could be amended to include a “presumption of shared parenting”, this newspaper has learnt.

Mr Loughton last night told The Daily Telegraph: “The state cannot create happy families, or broker amicable break-ups.

“But if children are having decent, loving parents pushed out of their lives, we owe it to them to change the system that lets this happen.”

One official said the Government wanted to remove any “inbuilt legal bias against the father or the mother” in the law. The official said: “This is about the children. Both parents should have a full and continuing role in a child’s life after they separate.

“Where there are no significant welfare issues, we would want to see this principle reinforced through law. We will make a legislative statement emphasising the importance of children having an ongoing relationship with both their parents at separation, when it is safe and in the child’s best interests.

Mr Norgrove originally proposed a right to equal access in law for both parents last March and then dropped it from his final 220-page report in November.

He said it would put too much pressure on judges to set out the exact length of time that each divorced parent should spend with their children.

Mr Norgrove, who chairs the Low Pay Commission, cited evidence from Australia which suggested children suffered more when courts imposed time limits on access to parents.

Mr Loughton, who had campaigned to change the law when in opposition, suggested Mr Norgrove had read too much into the Australian example.

He added: “The concept of 'shared parenting’ after a break-up often gets confused with the idea of equal time that a child spends with each parent.

“Quite clearly, ordinary living and working arrangements make an equal division impossible, and undesirable, in all but a small minority of cases.

“In all of this, the most important thing remains the principle that the child’s welfare is the paramount consideration and this must not be diluted.”

Ministers are also set to announce a £10million fund to encourage more parents to use mediation. Mr Loughton added: “The courts are rarely the best place for resolving private disputes about the care of children.”]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=656 Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:31:07 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=655 Leatherhead Advertiser

ACTIVISTS campaigning for fathers' rights scaled the home of a Government minister in London.

Martin Matthews, of Middlemead Road, Bookham, performed the unplanned stunt while protesting outside Justice Minister Ken Clarke's home in Kennington.

Real Fathers for Justice activists Martin Matthews, left, and Robster scaled the wall of Justice Minister Ken Clarke's house to make their point on his rooftop

A police helicopter and several squad cars attended after Mr Matthews, 44, and fellow campaigner Robster flagged down a van, borrowed a ladder and scaled the front of Mr Clarke's house.

Mr Matthews said: "There was nothing planned which is why I didn't dress up.

"The opportunity presented itself so we got up on the roof and got back down and Mr Plod turned up in a helicopter and then the ground troops turned up, but there was nothing for them to do.

"When they arrived they simply found two guys having a cup of coffee."

Neither of the men was arrested or cautioned for the stunt, which was part of simultaneous protests held in London and at Mr Clarke's constituency offices in Nottingham by The Real Fathers For Justice in memory of former activist Paul Pengram.

Campaigners say Mr Pengram killed himself on January 4 after a court order banned him from contacting his son.

Mr Matthews said: "The idea was to remember Paul and make the Justice Minister sit up and take notice.
"We are a very small percentage of the population, divorced dads, and all we are asking for is the chance to be a dad."

Mr Matthews has a 15-year-old son and has been campaigning for fathers' rights for more than a decade.

"I made a promise to him years ago that I would do my damnedest to change things so he wouldn't live in a world with this mess when he is an adult," he said.

"I know it seems ridiculous and foolish but there is no other way to get their attention.

"It's not something you can just accept and be quiet about. The public needs reminding all the time that the problem's not going away."

In 2010, the Advertiser reported that Mr Matthews was charged under anti-terrorism laws for sending a nappy full of talcum powder to the Child Support Agency in Plymouth, but he was found not guilty at trial.

Mr Clarke's Parliamentary office declined to comment but a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We want a family justice system which truly meets the needs of those at the heart of the system – children.

"As set out in the coalition programme for government, this government is committed to encouraging shared parenting and is firmly of the view that children should have meaningful relationships with both parents after separation."
]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=655 Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:54:33 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=654 Gloucestershire Echo

A REAL Fathers For Justice campaigner from Cheltenham was among a group of men who staged a protest at the homes of Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

Around 25 fathers, dressed in superhero costumes, converged on Mr Clarke's London and Nottingham properties to voice their anger at what they claim are unfair parenting laws.

Adrian Phelps, from St Paul's, has won the right to see his two children, aged five and seven, following a five-year battle.

The 25-year-old was among campaigners with the Real Fathers For Justice as they made their stand on Saturday.

Mr Phelps, who wore a Wolverine costume, said: "The protest was a big success. We went to Ken Clarke's Nottingham home but sent some people down to London as well.

"It was a peaceful protest and the police were present. But when they went on their coffee break the chance arose to climb up on to the roofs, which some of our members did.

"It's our way of making sure Ken Clarke sits up and take notice. The law has been weighted against fathers for too long."

Real Fathers For Justice campaigners are known for dressing up as superheroes while taking part in high-profile protests.

Members of the lobbying group claim they have been let down by the recent family law review, which falls under Mr Clarke's remit.
They want fathers' rights to be the same as those of mothers in legal custody battles.

Mr Phelps, added that he planned to continue fighting for the cause.

He added: "To many children, the superhero figure in their lives is their father.

"I may have won my battle but it took me five years. I will carry on fighting to ensure my sons don't go through the same thing one day."

Fellow campaigners hailed the protest as a success on the group's Facebook site.

Mr Clarke's office declined to comment.
]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=654 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:14:08 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=653 On Saturday Rffj activists successfully carried out rooftop demonstration at both of Justice secretary Ken Clarke's homes in London and Nottingham

The aim was to bring fat boy Ken into the real world, his outdated family justice system is well past it's sell by date, we have dads taking their own lives because of the injustice, look Ken - you have been failing families since the Conservative introduced the Children act in 1989 and the CSA in 1993.

Time to stop the spin, and to act on changing this grotesque and corrupt family court industry that is stripping children of their fathers, whilst lining the pockets of those who ply their trade within it's secretive walls.

At around 11am opportunity struck to scale Ken Clarke's London residence in Kennington, when police left for a coffee and doughnuts, activists Martin Matthews and Robster managed to flag down a passing window cleaner and borrow his ladders, that enabled them access to the Justice secretary's roof.

Once up, they were soon joined by an increased police presence including a helicopter, however no arrests were made, our guys ended the peaceful protest after observing the minute silence planned for Paul Pegram.

Earlier at around 9am action commenced when serial climbers, Roger Crawford and Jem Pogue, unfurled banners on the roof of Ken Clarke's Conservative constituency office in Nottingham.

More images below

They were joined by around a dozen or so supporters who had travelled from all parts of the UK.

The group observed a minute silence at noon for loving father Paul Pegram, who recently had taken his own life after a court order banned him from contact to his 7 year old son.
A minute silence was also observed by members of the Northern Ireland branch.

Then singer/songwriter Gary Weeks entertained the crowd with a few of the protest songs he has written for the campaign over the years, in 'A song for Simon' harmonies were by Tyne bridge protester Simon Anderton, he scaled the iconic landmark on fathers day 2008.


Well done to activists and supporters! More demo's coming soon.
]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=653 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:19:51 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=652
]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=652 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:55:10 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=651 Rffj this morning sent 2 activists units to the Nottingham and Kennington homes of Justice Secretary Ken Clarke. This morning two members have taken to the rooftop of the West Bridgford Conservative Club directly opposite Ken Clarke’s offices.

The purpose is to bring Ken Clarke into the real world, and decontaminate his ‘Victorian dad’ style of thinking.

Ahead of the demonstration, news filtered in to protesters about the passing of Paul Pegram, a loving father who had recently taken his own life after a judge had permanently excluded him from contact with his 7 year old son.

Rffj spokesman Jem Pogue said “We will observe a minute silence today to pay our respects to Paul Pegram, a loving father who lost his life because he was failed by family law”

“The system failed in their duty of care to Paul and his son, he was told he wouldn’t even be allowed to phone his son again, let alone have any direct contact with him”
“We are here today to bring Ken Clarke into the real world, to let him know what actually happens behind the secret doors of a family court, how it ruins lives like Paul Pegram and his son”

The protests continue... (images to follow)“The truth of the matter is that family law, as presided over by Ken Clarke, is separating children from their fathers, it was reported this week that 1 in 5 children never see their father again after separation”

“The sexist and biased family court system has no place in modern society, parental roles in intact families are totally interchangeable these days, but following separation or divorce the courts don’t see it that way”

“We call for total equality, for a level playing field in family law, the continued roles of parents in their children’s live must be enshrined in legislation”

“It’s not rocket science, two parents are better than one”

The demo is taking place on: Saturday, 28 January 2012 from 10.30am.

Please attend if you can, there are offers of transport available if you email info@realfathersforjustice.org

173 MELTON ROAD,
WEST BRIDGFORD
NOTTINGHAM
NG2 6ER]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=651 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:21:58 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=650 R.I.P. Paul Pegram, a loving father.

Paul leaves behind a brother, a 7 year old son, a loving daughter from his first marriage, and many friends.

Paul sadly took his own life following a family law case which saw him being permanently excluded from his youngest son's life, he was not even awarded supervised contact.

His family and friends believe the case rested on the views of a biased cafcass officer.

To mark our respects, on Saturday at noon Real fathers for justice members and supporters will be holding a minute silence during the protest at Ken Clarke's house in Nottingham.

Paul's close friend Teresa said "It would make us so very proud to have a minutes silence held for him"

"We have made the decision to take action, as we all feel he was treated badly through the court case, although as I am sure you must know there are always 2 sides, but to not even be allowed to speak to your own son on the phone, or be allowed any form of contact in a supervised centre is beyond us all"

]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=650 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:28:05 +0000 http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=649 Susan hasn't seen her granddaughter for 14 years. Her heartbreaking story will resonate with anyone who's felt the pain of family breakdown

Rffj say: When a child is denied contact to their father, they're also denied to one half of their family.
By Antonia Hoyle
Mail online

Looking out of the kitchen window, Susan Stamper let her mind wander to a time when the apple tree in her garden wasn't bare, but bright with blossom and the promise of spring.

One of her favourite memories flooded into focus. Annabel's chubby fingers scrabbled around a hole in the bark of the tree. 'Nanny, I've found it!' she squealed triumphantly as she pulled out an Easter egg.

The little girl flung her arms around her grandmother's shoulders, her tousled blonde hair tickling Susan's cheek as she buried her face in the curve of Annabel's neck. At three, she possessed the kind of unfettered curiosity peculiar to the very young. As they embraced, Susan's heart filled with hope as she envisaged the possibilities that lay ahead for her beloved granddaughter...
Susan Stamper and her son with his daughter in 1995. Since her Andrew separated from his partner Katie in July 1998, Susan has been denied all contact with the child

Susan Stamper and her son with his daughter in 1995. Since her Andrew separated from his partner Katie in July 1998, Susan has been denied all contact with the child

Then the memory faded as the joy it evoked turned once again to despair. Fourteen years had passed since that Easter Egg Hunt. Fourteen years in which Susan has been relegated to a footnote in Annabel's life. Since her son Andrew separated from his partner Katie in July 1998, Susan has been denied all contact.
Annabel is nearly 17 now, on the cusp of adulthood. The hopes that filled Susan's heart have been replaced by emptiness and regret.

'Annabel doesn't know me now and I doubt she'll remember any of the happy times we shared,' says Susan. 'Losing her has left a gaping hole in my life which is far worse than bereavement. At least then I'd have closure. This is a living nightmare.


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'My only hope is that Annabel will realise how much I love her and that, one day, I will see her again.'

Sadly, Susan's situation is far from unique. There are currently one million grandchildren in Britain who have little or no access to their grandparents.

Last November, the Family Justice Review ruled against giving grandparents any legal rights in the event of their parents' separation.

Grandparents save their families an average of £1,830 a year in child care, adding up to billions of pounds saved for the state. But David Cameron has done little to fulfil his pledge to improve their rights of access.
Teaching assistant Susan Stamper a feels a deep sense of injustice after being denied contact with her granddaughter for 16 years

Teaching assistant Susan Stamper a feels a deep sense of injustice after being denied contact with her granddaughter for 16 years

It is a failing that Susan, 63, is only too aware of. 'Something needs to be done,' she says. 'Just because millions of other grandparents are suffering doesn't make it easier to bear.'

A softly spoken teaching assistant, Susan's desire to share her experience with the Mail is born both out of love for her granddaughter and a deep sense of injustice. She doesn't wish to apportion blame or dissect the rights and wrongs of her son's failed relationship with Annabel's mother. She simply wants to be reunited with her own flesh and blood.

Her four-bedroom home in Lowick, Northamptonshire, is filled with mementoes. Photographs from Annabel's first and second birthdays adorn the mantelpiece, and her silver hair clip is pinned to the kitchen noticeboard. Upstairs in her dressing room sit 14 years' worth of birthday and Christmas presents, carefully wrapped up, waiting for Annabel.

Susan recalls how she and her husband, John, rushed to Kettering Hospital on hearing of her arrival in 1995. 'She was our first grandchild and we were overwhelmed with joy,' she says.

Also present was their son, Andrew. He had met his partner, Katie, on a night out five years earlier. A confident office manager, Katie was as outspoken as Andrew was introverted and ten years his senior — it was a case of opposites attracting.

Their relationship prospered and they bought a three-bedroom house in a village down the road from Susan and John.

Susan had always relished her own happy family. She and John have been married 43 years and have five children: Michael, 40, a police officer, Andrew, 39, a carpenter, plus Helen, 37, Karen, 32, and Sarah, 28, who work in the hospitality industry.

Becoming a grandmother gave Susan a new lease of life. She marvelled at Annabel's every development. 'I'd lose hours singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, enraptured as she learned to flutter her fingers in time to the tune,' says Susan.

Annabel's other grandmother had died young, and when Katie went back to work part-time after six months, Susan was determined to help. 'I was aware of the boundaries of my position, but I tried to help, as I understood how tough it is to be a working mum,' she says.

'I bought nappies and knitted cardigans. I rocked Annabel to sleep and comforted her when she cried. I showed her the ducks on our village pond and taught her to say "quack".'
Desperate: Susan pleaded in vain with Katie to let her see Annabel but was not allowed

Desperate: Susan pleaded in vain with Katie to let her see Annabel but was not allowed

John, 64, works as a decorator for a country house and the family lives in the grounds. It is an idyllic environment for a child to play in.

Yet Susan's enjoyment of her granddaughter was tempered by increasing tension between Andrew and Katie as the differences that had drawn them together began to tear them apart.

She is reluctant to reveal the details of their break-up. Truth be told, she doesn't fully understand them herself. Suffice to say that in July 1998, after eight years together, Andrew turned up on Susan's doorstep.

He said Katie had kicked him out after an argument, but that he had no intention of going back. 'I was shocked, but knew he'd been miserable and vowed to support him,' she says.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. It is entirely possible that Andrew was as much to blame for the disintegration of the relationship as Katie. But whatever the reason for the split, it had devastating and altogether undeserved repercussions on Susan.

'Katie was furious that he refused to come home and wouldn't let me see Annabel,' Susan says. 'She wanted me to talk Andrew into going back, but he was adamant.'

Soon, the issue became not whether they would stay together, but what would happen to Annabel. There were accusations, claims and counter-claims, until Andrew was denied any further legal aid. Annabel was born before 2003, when the law changed to give unmarried fathers better access. So the fact Andrew was named as her father on her birth certificate gave him no automatic rights. As Andrew and Katie hadn't been married, he could see his daughter only with Katie's permission or by going to court.

Andrew was told any effort he made to contact Annabel would hinder future access attempts. He had neither the finances nor the confidence to fight the law.

'He was heartbroken,' says Susan. 'That autumn I hired my own solicitor, but they told me I needed Andrew's support to apply for a contact order, that the process would be lengthy and cost money we didn't have.'

Louise Baker of the Grandparents' Association says: 'Sadly, Susan's situation is one of a number of stories that we hear from distressed grandparents unable to see their grandchildren. When contact is denied, the grandparents and extended family describe it as a “living bereavement”.

'Grandparents have no automatic rights to see their grandchildren but can play a vital role in the child's life.'

Desperate, Susan pleaded in vain with Katie to let her see Annabel. That Christmas, she sent presents through Andrew's solicitor — some hair ties, socks and a doll. They were returned, unopened. The following February, Susan was walking down the street in Thrapston, Northamptonshire, when she spotted Annabel and Katie. 'My heart was pounding as I asked how she was,' says Susan. 'But she didn't reply. It was as if she didn't know me. I sobbed as Katie led her away.'

Katie and Andrew sold the house they had shared that spring. In July, Andrew told his mother that Katie was moving away and taking Annabel with her. She had refused to tell him where they were going.

'It felt like we'd hit a dead end,' says Susan. 'I tried to pick up the pieces of my life and be positive.

'But thoughts of Annabel dominated everything. My joy at watching my other four children marry was marred with sadness because she wasn't there.

'In 1999 our second grandchild, Jordan, was born. Holding him was bittersweet. He reminded me of her. As the months passed, I realised I couldn't simply give up hope.'

So she searched the internet for support groups for grandchildren robbed of contact. In January 2001, Susan was tipped off by a friend that Katie had changed her name and moved to a suburb of Nottingham. She contacted Nottinghamshire social services in a bid to confirm it was her, but they couldn't help. Neither could the NSPCC. Desperate, she and John drove to the neighbourhood one winter's morning so that, at the very least, she could ascertain that Annabel was all right.

Their breath steamed the car windows as they sat and waited. 'We felt like criminals,' says Susan. 'It was two hours until I saw her — she was with Katie, in what must have been her school uniform. She was taller, with longer hair. Her walk was grown up. Every fibre of my being wanted to call out, to take her in my arms. But I knew it would backfire. We drove home, heartbroken but relieved.'

Susan sent cards, praying Annabel would see them. She put money in a Post Office account for her every Christmas and birthday. Other relatives continued to buy presents. Susan has three bags of them now. 'They offer a strange comfort,' she says. 'They give me hope that one day Annabel will be able to unwrap them, to understand how loved she was by the family she never saw.'

In the intervening years, Susan has been blessed with ten other grandchildren. Watching them grow has helped to heal her hurt but reminded her of the milestones she has missed.

Annabel's first school play and first day at secondary school were events she could only imagine. Susan keeps video footage John took locked in a cabinet, the shaky images of Annabel playing too painful to watch.

When she closes her eyes she can still picture her granddaughter on her garden swing, giggling and demanding that Susan push her 'higher, Nanny!' In 2005 she started volunteering for the Grandparents' Association, which receives 8,000 calls a year from people denied access. 'I was stunned by how many others were in my position. Knowing I wasn't alone offered some comfort.'

In 2008, Andrew heard of a minor change in the law that made it easier for fathers to apply for contact orders. He took out a £5,000 loan and hired a solicitor.

The hearing was at Nottingham County Court in January 2009. But anticipation turned to defeat as Andrew stood before the judge. Annabel had been interviewed and had said she didn't want anything to do with him.

At 13, she was old enough to make up her own mind, but old enough, too, to have forgotten the happy times they'd shared. 'I didn't blame her,' says Susan. 'How could I?

'She wouldn't remember the hours Andrew had spent singing lullabies or building her Lego. My only consolation was that at least she knew we existed.'

After the disappointment, hope dwindled. Susan says Andrew has never recovered from the loss of Annabel and his subsequent court defeat. Susan, meanwhile, surrounds herself with memories.

'I have a scrapbook of her squiggles that is more valuable to me than any masterpiece,' she says. Annabel's presents were the last to be taken from under the Christmas tree last month, placed with the others upstairs. 'She's in my will with my other grandchildren,' says Susan. 'They hope that one day they'll meet their cousin.'

She is counting the days until Annabel turns 18 next February. When she is no longer a minor, Susan will feel more confident about contacting her again.

'I just want her to know how much she means to me,' she says. 'Hopefully she will one day understand that although I haven't been a part of her childhood, she was always in my heart, and always will be.'

Katie and Annabel are pseudonyms.]]> News http://www.realfathersforjustice.org/news/index.php?itemid=649 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:12:39 +0000