The Heart of Hope Family Tree is growing stronger roots despite the coronavirus crisis.
Andrew John Teague, from D.A.D.s and NAAP, is pushing on with the tree campaign. He said: “The virus is hitting a lot of events and many people have been left disappointed – however, the heart of hope event will survive one way or the other.
“The idea is one heart for each child – there’s no cost and we can give you the heart colour you choose.
“I only put children’s first name and the tree and there are seven different colour hearts and five different colour ribbons. I don’t put any siblings names together to avoid any controversy. No two children from the same family are together – but they are all on the tree and they all share the same problem, absent or controlling parents.
And the questions any parent wants to ask I will write on a huge banner and when this virus crisis is over, I’ll go to London with the questions and take the hearts with me.”
April 25 was to be Parental Alienation Awareness Day in the UK, USA, Canada and Bermuda and many other parts of the world.
This awareness day was part of the global campaign over parental alienation.
The campaign says – and the Preservation Society wholeheartedly agrees – parental alienation needs to be a recognised form of child abuse and psychiatric harm punishable within the criminal justice system.
‘Both children and parents have a right to private and family life, so why should one party be enabled to interfere with those rights?’
But due to the absence of a real definition PA has been characterised by CAFCASS as: ‘Constantly badmouthing or belittling the other parent; limiting contact; forbidding discussion about children; creating the impression that the other parent dislikes or does not love the child’.
Andrew put it this way: “One of the most important things that needs to be addressed is the children’s emotional and psychological health and well-being.
“Of course, everyone looks at safeguarding children from different forms of harm.
“Forms of harm like physical, sexual and neglect.
“More often than not the emotional and psychological impact on the children is due to controlling parents and family courts.
“Children don’t simply throw away a parent, grandparent or whole half of a family. This is systematically and strategically done by bad parents (grandparents new partners) and family courts.
“Children who went through it a decade ago are now knocking on the mental health door (suicidal self harming alcohol and drug abuse failing in the simplest tasks criminal and sex exploited and more).
“And so the patterns continue – and just like today’s children, tomorrow others will be knocking on the mental health door. That means more young people run the risk of suicide.
“Children every year being dragged through the family courts and getting their future mental health shot to pieces. They are poisoned, not simply just by a bad parents, but in a big way by the whole family court process.
“Cafcass will do in 15/20 minutes what a well-trained child psychologist would take weeks to do.
“What makes Cafcass so amazingly special? I will tell you – being left to their own devices, to do what they want and answer to no one. Accountability zero!
“What special training do Cafcass undertake? I shall tell you none! Here we have untrained used-up social workers, the failures of the rat race, playing god with children’s lives.
“Many many parents are thrown to the side directly because of Cafcass and social workers, because it’s easier to target the targeted parent and protect the abuser.
“A good start would be to disband Cafcass and completely remove them from the family courts certainly keep them well away from children.
“Kids – everyone talks kids but really how many actually give a toss about the kids?
“Kids are for life to enjoy being kids not pushed to the bitterest of ends sadly very sadly too many times this happens
“Children need us everyday to save them from the tomorrows.”
Keep spreading the word how it actually is. A corrupt court system with unqualified CAFCass officers operating beyond their skill level.