Lisa Watch

Director Policy & Comms @Kinshipcharity (Job-share). Trustee @hackneytennis. Based - London & caravan on Mersea Island. Views own (usually sober!)

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

It's been a truly incredible day for all the #KinshipCarers at this very special visit from the Princess of Wales @KensingtonRoyal to a @kinshipcharity peer support group.

Profile for the amazing grandparents, relatives & friends raising children in loving homes is long overdue.

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

👸 We’re thrilled to share with you that today The Princess of Wales made a special visit to a Kinship peer support group in London. She met with #KinshipCarer grandparents, aunts and uncles and some of the young children they are raising.

@KensingtonRoyal
@EarlyChildhood

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Share our poignant new #ValueOurLove film. 🎬
Can I pay with love? 💳

This is what aunt #KinshipCarer Kelly, our senior campaigns officer, asked when she went undercover in supermarkets to try to buy the essentials for her #KinshipFamily. 🛒

Learn more about why she did this👇

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

@hmtreasury, @RachelReevesMP take note of these formidable #KinshipCarers marching today with empty trolleys to symbolise that love alone won't pay the costs of raising a child.

They urgently need financial support to keep their children in stable, loving homes (& out of care).

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Today, #kinshipcarers and #ValueOurLove campaigners marched with empty shopping trollies through Westminster and told the government ‘we can’t pay with love’ – and that all kinship carers need financial support now. ✊

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Great to have this opp for @kinshipcharity’s @samtrner to set out so expertly to @CommonsEd the complex landscape of #KinshipCare & how this will limit the new provisions in the Bill actually resulting in support for many of the families who most need it. #ValueOurLove

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

This morning, our Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs @samtrner gave evidence to @CommonsEd on the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill and to support the Committee's wider children's social care inquiry.

Watch the whole session back at https://t.co/YwguKdSpEl. 📺

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

During the second reading of the Employment Rights Bill in Parliament yesterday, MPs used our briefing to highlight the absence of paid employment leave for #KinshipCarers within the Bill and urged the Government to go further.

🧵👇

#EmploymentRightsBill

[Alex Lloyd Hunter @decochild]

The UK's paternity leave policy is the worst in Europe - just two weeks paid at < half the minimum wage. Today we've launched The Dad Shift to help change that. Read more here: https://t.co/HHS3OIcgKs and sign our letter calling for better pat leave here:

https://t.co/pF2Ay8yX15

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Another positive signal of new minister @JanetDaby's commitment to #KinshipCarers today but we still urgently need to hear ministers plans for continuing the reforms started by the last Gvt.

If you haven't already signed Poppy's open letter: ✒️ https://t.co/OGqSvoKTYu

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Signed, sealed and delivered! 💌

Poppy and a group of #KinshipCarers hand delivered our open letter – signed by more than 6,000 #ValueOurLove campaigners and celebrities - to @JanetDaby, the Minister for Children and Families @educationgovuk. 💛

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Great to see an increasing no of local councils like @SheffCouncil committing to paying allowances to more #KinshipCarers.

It's totally unfair for #KinshipFamilies to be left without support for the costs of raising a child (a fraction of the cost of a child going into care)

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

📢 Great news!! We welcome the positive steps from Sheffield City Council who are broadening access to a financial allowance for kinship carers to all those who have a legal order, on par with the minimum national fostering allowance.

[Good Morning Britain @GMB]

Children who are cared for and raised by a family member or friend, are being denied access to vital mental health and educational support, a report has found.

＠professorgreen, who was raised by his Nanny Pat, recalls his personal experience and says he'll be forever grateful for the love, support and stability she provided him.

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

@professorgreen @GMB @drlucypeake @kategarraway @adilray P.S. This incredible opportunity to feature on @gmb news is due to #KinshipCarers and their families telling us about their experiences and the challenges they face in our annual survey. Complete our 2024 survey: https://t.co/oTMtmaDKOa

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Worth 👀 this @GMB piece with @professorgreen on @kinshipcharity’s new findings that around half of children in #KinshipCare are struggling without support to cope with the early trauma they experienced.

As @drlucypeake explains, there are some simple solutions👇🏻

#ValueOurLove

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Did you catch Stephen Manderson AKA @ProfessorGreen on @gmb this morning? 📺

Watch @ProfessorGreen and @DrLucyPeake from 2 hours 2 minutes into the broadcast: https://t.co/zMxG7ftI9n

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Add you name, alongside musician @professorgreen, to the heart-felt open letter written by Poppy who grew up in #kinshipcare to the Education Secretary @bphillipsonMP, calling for more support for kinship families now. #ValueOurLove https://t.co/frNJJjfJqs

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Today, we are launching our new report Forgotten:  Support for kinship children’s education and mental health 📃

Read the full report: https://t.co/9vqmR4Vvsg

Read some of our findings below 👇

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

The horrifying riots and disorder that have unfolded in the last week have had a huge impact on communities across the country, including a number of communities where we work directly with kinship carers.

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Great to have been interviewed for this @closer article which we hope will reach lots more #KinshipCarers like amazing Katie and Dawn who desperately need more support, so they know @kinshipcharity is here to help https://t.co/HrZ90mq8FN

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Head to your local newsstand today & grab yourself a copy of @closer, featuring #KinshipCarers Dawn & Katie 📰

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

🙏@JanetDaby for choosing to meet with #KinshipCarers @kinshipcharity as your 1st visit as @educationgovuk minister

The moving discussion about the challenges they are facing meant the world to them & they feel you understand that major change is desperately needed
#ValurOurLove

[Janet Daby MP @JanetDaby]

It was fantastic to meet some amazing people at @kinshipcharity today who care for vulnerable children, in my second day as an @educationgovuk minister.

I know from 15 years on the frontline of social care that they don’t often get the support they deserve. We will change this.

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Congratulations to @bphillipsonMP for becoming the next Education Secretary in the new @UKLabour Government.

We're hugely grateful for her support for kinship carers and the #ValueOurLove campaign while she was Shadow Education Secretary - see below👇

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Read @samtrner in @cypnow on @kinshipcharity’s #ValueOurLove campaign and how the next government must build a bespoke #KinshipCare system, ending the legal & postcode lottery and ‘recognising the unique needs, strengths and experiences of all kinship families’ 👇🏻

[Children & Young People Now @cypnow]

@samtrner shared his thoughts on kinship care making it into the manifestos of all three major UK parties
https://t.co/hnUvOKuMkO

[Lisa Watch @lisarwatch]

Read my brilliant @kinshipcharity colleague & #KinshipCarer @KellTaylor9’s piece in @yorkshirepost on why kinship carers need to be afforded the same support as foster carers by the next government 👇🏻

[The Yorkshire Post @yorkshirepost]

Kinship carers need to be afforded the same support as foster carers by the next government - Kelly Taylor https://t.co/zSuVKS9kaD

[Kinship @kinshipcharity]

Pssssssttt @RachelReevesMP... one great way to support this would be to introduce a new right to employment leave for #KinshipCarers.

Here's why... 🧵

#ValueOurLove
https://t.co/qj5lm95Ie8

[Lucy Peake @drlucypeake]

Great to see @RachelReevesMP @UKLabour set out her plan to support women at work. Don’t forget #KinshipCarers👇