(From Home Education Forums)
A well-known member of the HE community and trusted friend needs our
help. The person's family is facing a possible court order and they felt
the need to leave the country very quickly in order to protect the
children from unfounded interference based on home education as a risk
factor.
A court order would prevent this family from being able to
openly fight their corner; moving out of the country will give them
breathing space and the chance of a fair and open opportunity to respond
in safety to the unfounded allegations. Interim financial assistance,
though not asked for by the family, would afford them a slight cushion
as the initial relocation costs are fairly hefty and unforeseen as
events have snowballed very quickly. The family is currently camping on a
very limited budget with help from family and friends. They have long
term plans.
We are looking to raise funds in the region of £1000. Any
donation, no matter how small, is very gratefully received. We will post
regular progress updates on the amount raised, but should we exceed our
target, with full agreement from donors, we will put any additional
funds to one side for ongoing relocation costs. The Paypal collection
address is HEfamily@innocent.com and one of the people listed below will transfer all funds to the family's bank account at the end of this appeal.
We would like to point out that relocation is NOT necessarily
the best or only option for families in similar circumstances. However
in this situation, the multiple factors were such that the family in
question strongly felt it to be the best course of action to ensure the
children remained safe and protected in a loving environment. Whilst
discussions about where and when to go, and how to take a more proactive
stance in such situations are extremely important, we would very much
appreciate it if they did not hinder this family's progress.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any
questions, we will do our best to answer them without compromising the
anonymity of this home educating family. We are most appreciative of the
community's support in continuing to protect their identity.
Alison Preuss
Barbara Stark
Elaine Kirk
Gill Kilner
Karen Gallant
Lisa Amphlett
Louisa Herbs
Maire Stafford
Michelle Beeny
Neil Taylor Moore
Raquel Toney
Sheila Struthers
Susanna Matthan
Techla Wood
Good luck to them. I went through a child contact case whilst I was home edding and during the second to last hearing Cafcas suddenly sprung an order on me that my DD go to school as home ed was harmful. I did not have a chance to defend myself at all and within a short time of that I had cafcas order a section 37 report on me. It was a personal attack as she hated home ed mainly and decided I was a risk to my own children. The section 37 was done and luckily I had a great social worker who wrote a lovely report on us actually, Cafcas werent happy obviously.
ReplyDeleteCafcass are really rather scary - I've had a couple of run-ins with them years ago and it was awful. Luckily I managed to get their suggestions over-ruled, but it was very scary at the time (both times).
ReplyDeleteI hope the family are able to overturn HE as a risk factor.
oh I can imagine this.. I have been there, had stupid LEA (as it was then) being prats. Ed welfare involved and all we had done was try to put off a visit for a while as the childrens cat and grandad dies within a month of each other. My heart goes out to them, who ever they are (I may know them?)
ReplyDeletePlease tell them to stay strong, know you have done nothing wrong. It can turn out OK our hassles stopped when we involved a solicitor. Anything I can do to help get in touch but from list sounds like you have good help.
Bws Jenny, mum of 18 & 21 y.o. ex home educated.
Hi LittlePuffin, so sorry you had to go through that! I've dealt with Cafcass too and although they were good for me, the seemingly arbitrary power they have is worrying.
ReplyDeleteHi Nikki, yep, scary is the word. I'm absolutely sure this family will do that, they just needed to get to a safe place first. Without the move, it was looking as though they might not have the chance to do that.
Juniper, you might know the family in question. Certainly more than one of us on that list knows them IRL and the rest have known them online for years. I will pass your kind message on, thank you.
Hearing of situations like this just highlights the dictatorship we all find ourselves under. I was in touch with a family in a similar situation a couple of years back, which David Icke reported on.
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest that the family in question to check www.diggersanddreamers.com for some alternative living options around Europe. Our family have lived on a campsite for a year, and have had to dodge the intrusive eye of health visitors and social services. We are now heading out of the country ( not under the same circumstances) but to find the freedom our family deserve. We have no money, but have found somewhere that we can look after the land and pay in kind for our dwelling. I do have a few more ideas, and I would be happy to talk about these via email xxx pangaloon@hotmail.com
Thanks very much for that Jo. Best wishes and good luck to you in your situation. I've passed your comment back through the channels, so contact might well be made with you. :-) xx
ReplyDeleteHi Gill.....well the woman seemed to have some personal vendetta against me to be honest. She made a lot of stuff up and you really have no control over anything when they are involved. The judge really only pays attention to the cafcas reprt and nothing else....so despite me having countless reports in my favour ( plus positive LEA reports which not one person wished to read by the way) the judge focussed only on this one womans report (Cafcas) which stated so many untruths about me. Luckily the social worker had her head screwed on...or things could have got very bad. It did seem to be just her being anti home ed. By the time the court case started my eldest had decided to go to school by the way yet the cafcas officer then claimed I had only put her into school because it would make me look good and that once the court proceedings were over I would then remove her from school. The really scary thing is that you cant actually complain about these people!
ReplyDelete