Both Parents Matter Reviews 124

Absolutely magnificent team members. So much knowledge and understanding of the family law.

I'm in regular contact with Darren and Paul.
Who both have a profound approach.

Susan
Was lovely to talk to gave amazing advice
And very supportive and empathetic almost reminds me of my grandma such a calming voice and great heart thank you for helping me through my tough time

I just wanted to put in a quick message to say its such a shame that the charity is closing. I came to you when going through court proceedings to get access to my daughter. The help and support I got from your team got me through so much and helped me realise just what was going on. I will forever and eternally be grateful for everyone involved within your charity.

Being notified of changes with in the family court system. Receiving updates of the troubles that many parents face. Links to get advice if needed. The only downside is, it seems to be to little to late. The shear stress of having children used as ammunition, the denied access and the length of time to even get an opportunity to change this, is simply way too long. This in itself has caused me to fall incredibly sick with a rare cancer. Plus serious mental health and well being issues. I was diagnosed 16 days prior to my final court hearing, with a stage 4 aggressive cancer. This was an incredibly rare cancer were only 200 in the uk/70million people are diagnosed. It lead to a 3 year and 8th biopsy to get diagnosed. I lost my job, my health, my family, my home and my life as I knew it. The 8th biopsy caused me to crash and be resuscitated with another emergency surgery then time in a coma. Macmillian and my daughter decided to make contact as I was at end of life. The residential parent then phoned the police. On Her own step daughter, my macmillian nurse with 40 years experience and not 1 single complaint. I never saw that nurse again and I was taken to court for instructing them to contact my ex. I'm sure everyone knows that while in a coma, you have 3 tubes down your throat and one up each nostril. How could I instruct anyone?? I decided not to go back through the court system, as the stress previously could have triggered my cancer, also I didn't want my child to remember me as a cancer patient who was dieing. Now I know its been too long. Ive been threatened with imprisonment. Ive had multiple break ins to the property I was staying in. The other parent stole court evidence, also broke their own non molestation order, by being abusive and making threats, the Monday after the previous Friday of getting the non molestation into place, all because I had a female friend round. This was 12 months after the separation. All over looked in court. The accusations were all verbal, with no evidence at all. But the money taken from my house, the debts I personally was left with. Meant I recieved 20% less and also had near 50k of debt to pay. The other parent used it for solicitors and barristers, leaving me in financial and mental and physical ruin. It'll be 5 years in January with out contact. I now don't even recognise my own child and ive never made it back to work since beating a stage 4 aggressive cancer. One of the rarest. I now don't know what else I can do. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to go through that ordeal again. It was last January I was in a coma. I finally finished radiotherapy in July, then in may this year, I still wasn't in remission and my dad died at the end of may. 1 week later I was finally told I was in remission. Now imagine how my dad felt being denied access to his grandson. He has 18 other cousins yet the safeguarding concern was just with me. So why delete the entire family, including his own big sister, just purely because my daughter stood by me after realising what was going on. Her step mum of near 17 years had deleted and blocked her from her life and her own little brothers life. Just because she made the correct choice. Read my story. Reach out and let me share this. There's so much more to it. Including addiction, which she denied. The break ins, manipulation of the system when ive evidence of tax fraud of 47k per annum. This is why she never kept to a verbal agreement with the 2 mortgages we had. It was always about the money as I thought she was declaring and earning just 7k per year. She's about to be a millionaire and I over paid cms, for over 2 years. I then spent the following year dying of cancer with out benefits or anywhere to live. It took 9 months with an eviction notice and no income for 6 months. I was broken in all meaning of the word. I'm now qualified in mental health and wellbeing also in adverse experiences through childhood. Ive done anger management l, advanced parenting course and the perpetrators course even though the registration and course had already been decided that it was too late to get onto it. Also there was no plans to reinstate it the following year. I had to find a local course. Noq cms want backdated pay, even though I highlighted every single over payment on my account. The over payments should have covered the time I was so sick and the following 4 years to come. I'm about to lose my disability payments yet the latest cms request is ridiculous. What choice do I have if im back too just £86per week with £200pm in payments to make. Suicide or leave the country?!?! 14x more likely with out the whole back story and the fact that my son is 8 years old next month. He was3 the last time I seen him. In family court, if your male then you are guilty until proven innocent, yet they break you down with threats and believe nothing.Yet with her,she broke the law, n lied.?

This group has been instrumental in supporting many parents including myself understand the nuances of the family court system, provide practical guidance and advice based on the volunteer's own personal and combined experience of the group. The forum has provided a safe place to share your experience and learn collectively.

Fantastic support for parents trying to navigate the family court system as well as somewhere to vent in a safe space

The group is so supportive. Wisdom, good advice and friendliness.

Great support for parents in difficult situations.
I have been to meetings and feel it’s important to have somewhere parents can turn to when they need advice and support.

I am struggling to cancel my membership. Emailed but got no response, and there is no visible information.

I have been a member of BPM for many years now since my ex stopped me seeing my children. With the support of the members of my local group I have managed to navigate some very low and difficult times. Now, with the benefit of my experience of the family justice system and life as a father after divorce - both good and bad - I am proud to remain a member and support this charity while offering my time and experience to those just now starting their journey. You may not find all the answers, as everyone's journey is different, but you will find friendly people who understand the struggles you face and can provide you with some guidance and hope.

They are still taking payment from me. 10/12/2024 i sent a second email to cancel. They have not stopped taking the 5 pound payment and it doesn’t give you an option to stop the payment online. Scam!!

I attended the Families Need Fathers online meeting, hoping for guidance and support. While the first session provided some general advice, I was disappointed to find that further assistance required payment. They also used the meeting to promote their paid services rather than genuinely supporting struggling fathers.

Support organizations should prioritize helping people first, not making money. If you are looking for free and unbiased support, this may not be the best place.

I called and spoke to two different call handlers both of whom I got cut off from. The first time I called, I spent about 5 minutes explaining my detailed situation which was obviously also emotionally taxing. Then suddenly got cut off. So I called back to see if I could be reconnected with that call handler which the new call handler said wasn't possible.

So I then re-explained my situation to her which lasted 11 minutes before I then got cut off from her as well. Neither of whom have called me back. And from the brief conversations I had with them they weren't really offering any solid advice or direction as to what I could do with my situation, but rather just offering sympathy. While sympathy is helpful, I was hoping for clear advice and support to help me manage my difficult situation.

From broader branding perspective, why is it there can be an organisation called MATCH (Mothers Apart from Their Children), but seemingly, 'Families Need Fathers' needs to be diluted down to 'Both Parents Matter'. In reality fathers have a much bigger uphill battle against the legal system in this country when it comes to getting the access to their children which they are entitled to. Why aren't we doing more to provide fit for purpose organisations to help fathers in this situation? It's unacceptable and the level of service I received here was unfortunately consistent with that.

Fathers with restricted access, who generate huge amounts of taxes which go towards organisations like this, deserve much better support.

Supportive community with excellent and measured advice for challenging situations

Regular meetings (online and in person), uniting those who are seeking assistance in a sea of uncertainty and fluctuating emotions, with those who have already been through the process and can provide words of wisdom with a calm and measured approach.
I have learnt a lot about the entire process, and have put it all into practice, saved a fortune in the process

I don't think there is another organisation like this.

To summarise - simply amazing!

An excellent and long running organisation that I have been proud to support for many years!

My ex prevented me from seeing my children for over 13 months out of sheer spite. David and the FnF Harrow group got me through some tough times and gave me the energy to fight without solicitors or other legal help when the money ran out. The result being the children now have me back in their lives and I am now in a position to support other fathers that are going through what are probably the most stressful times in a parents life. I owe a lot to FnF.

If you can call it 'advice' then please be aware that my experiences were that if i had taken it, it would have been, potentially, extremely detrimental to my brother, if not dangerous. When I expressed my concerns, the advisor terminated the call.

When dealt with a problem they didn’t know how to deal with (court order being used as a vehicle of abuse), they hung up twice. Needless to say this was no help, and even the polite courtesy of saying we don’t know how to deal with that would off been more appropriate.

David is a true gentleman and have been a great help and support when there was none.I value his patience knowledge and selfless tenacity in helping others in their time of need.I have learnt valuable lessons from David that has impacted my life since and have found a platform of my own to follow his example.