Kinship mediation
For family members raising a child whose parents can’t, and for those parents. We help you agree contact, talk calmly and keep the child at the centre.
Who it’s for
Kinship carers are grandparents, aunts, uncles, older brothers and sisters or family friends who bring up a child when the child can’t live with their parents. Many have a Special Guardianship Order.
Keeping a good relationship with the child’s parents can be really hard. There may be hurt, worry and old arguments on all sides. Kinship mediation gives everyone a calm, safe place to talk about:
- Contact: when and how the child sees their parents
- How you’ll communicate with each other
- How to handle disagreements before they become rows
What is a Special Guardianship Order?
A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a court order that lets a child live with someone other than their birth parents, when adoption isn’t right. The special guardian gets parental responsibility until the child is 18, so they can make everyday decisions about school and health.
Unlike adoption, an SGO keeps the child’s legal link to their birth family. Some decisions, like changing the child’s surname or taking them abroad for more than three months, need everyone with parental responsibility to agree, or the court.
How we help
- We don’t take sides. Our trained mediators make sure everyone is heard.
- It’s private. What’s said in mediation stays there.
- It can save going back to court. That saves time, money and stress.
We offer kinship mediation across the North West, not just in Wigan. Our kinship mediation service was set up with funding from the National Lottery’s Awards for All programme.
Ready to talk?
The first chat is free and there’s no pressure to do anything after it. We aim to meet you within a week.