Displaying items by tag: Family

The Government proposes to entirely remove fault from divorce law and replace it with a notification system. This would mean one spouse could end their marriage, whenever they wanted, by notifying the court and after a short period of time receive the final divorce decree, amounting to ‘no reason’ divorce. Fault sets out the high aspiration for marriage as a lifelong union. Many believe removing it would increase divorce rates, fundamentally change what marriage means, and increase the number of children living in broken families. Care (Christian Action Research and Education) is concerned that these proposals could fundamentally change what marriage means, leading to unstable situations where individual autonomy is prioritised in the law above children or the marriage. With this in mind Care has produced a short briefing paper with suggested points to make in responding to the consultation using an online form: see ‘More’ for further details. Submissions must be made before 10 December.

National Education Union leader Kevin Courtney said official statistics showed 4,050 special needs pupils did not have a suitable school place in 2017 in England, up from 1,710 in 2016. Lack of designated funding means growing numbers of our most vulnerable children are left without appropriate support in a suitable school environment. The Government said money for schools and special needs was protected, and councils are allocated funds for special needs in both mainstream and special schools through their ‘high needs’ budgets. However, shortfalls in these budgets leave them ‘cash flat’ (the total does not account for inflation), while the number of pupils needing special programmes has been growing. Pupils with autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, ADHD, and other learning or physical disabilities need extra equipment and trained support staff to enable them to reach their full potential.

The Trussell Trust runs a network of over 400 foodbanks across the UK, giving emergency food and support to people in crisis. Already this year they have given 586,907 three-day emergency food supplies to people in financial emergencies. Thousands of vulnerable people are finding that they cannot manage their budget when an unexpected extra expense occurs. They are barely surviving. On 7 March Trussell Trust’s Welsh branches called on Christians with knowledge of the welfare system to volunteer to help people, following a new Joseph Rowntree report revealing that a quarter of Welsh people are in poverty. Although overall poverty in Wales has gone down, specific groups, such as pensioners and single parents, have not seen any improvement.

A six-year-old boy’s parents removed him from a church school, in a row over another boy wearing a dress. Their son was confused as to why the boy dressed as both a boy and a girl. The couple were told that under the school's bullying policy their son faced being disciplined for misidentifying the gender of the other pupil. The diocese responsible for the school said it is required to ‘respect diversity of all kinds’, and its policy regarding boys wearing dresses is, ‘if a child wants to do that then we just have to accept it’. The couple are suing the school for ‘overriding their religious beliefs’. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust handle ‘under-18 gender issues’. Since 2015 the number of referrals to them of children under the age of ten has risen from 87 to 216 (32 aged five or under). See also

Over 335,000 missing person calls were made in 2015/16. One in every five had mental health issues. 3,000 people have been missing for over 10 years. Andrew Gosden is one of them. In 2007 14-year-old Andrew left his Doncaster home, boarded a train to London, and vanished. Andrew's family are haunted by thoughts of what might have happened to him in London. His father suffers from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts. Police forces in England and Wales received one missing person call every ninety seconds last year. Margaret Cooper, from Huddersfield, has been searching since 2008 for her son Steven. She said, ‘It's not knowing, that's the worst thing’. On 29 August, a new project started in London using an online tool to link rough sleepers to Missing People databases. Teams will help homeless people who use Night Buses and Tubes as a place to sleep to find accommodation and access to support services, and reconnect them with family and friends. See

As an evangelist my greatest calling is to reach my family. ‘Your whole family is going to be in heaven with you, son’ was the whisper of the Spirit into my heart months ago as my youngest daughter met Jesus. Years of prayer answered. Pray daily for your wider family: I still pray with that promise in my heart.
(Carl Beech, the Message Trust)

Statistics from the Home and Foreign Offices show that forced marriages have jumped from 1,220 cases in 2015 to 1,428 in 2016. Most were under the age of 15 and 140 had learning disabilities. August is the ‘critical’ month. Parents take their teenage daughters abroad on holiday then trick them into forced marriages. The government's Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) says it has received 770 calls for help this year from victims. Since 2009 schools have been helped to identify signs of forced marriages. However the numbers are still rising which indicates that some schools, communities and councils are failing to act on suspicions or evidence of abuse. Pray for schools and communities to play a greater preventative role. The UK’s Forced Marriage Unit said that because of the nature of forced marriage a number of them are not reported so the true scale of the problem remains unclear.  See also: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/child-bride-speaks-out-forced-13429971

Foodbanks are appealing for more food than normal; the school holidays have started. For many parents, the summer holidays bring fresh challenges for meagre budgets. The Trussell Trust handed out 4,412 more three-day emergency food parcels for children last July and August than during the previous two months. Almost half go to primary school pupils, and 27% to children, including babies, under the age of four. School holidays financially stretch families struggling to get by. Without free school meals, and with extra childcare costs, families who just about stay afloat risk going under. There is a food poverty crisis in the UK, and the government is starved of ideas. In 2016 teachers reported children returning to school in September sluggish and visibly thinner. Pray for the parents skipping meals, or working out the smallest number of calories they can get by on, or only eating what is left on their children’s plates.

For centuries the social and political organisation of many Iraqis has centred on the tribe. Socially, tribes were divided into related sub-tribes, which further divided into clans, and then into extended families. Today 75% of Iraq’s people are members of a tribe with a strict honour code. Despite the liberation of most of IS-occupied areas, political differences and a struggle for power remain. There have been clashes between the Popular Mobilisation Units and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces near Kirkuk. Also, on 20 July clashes between the Sunni Nineveh Guards and the Shi’ite faction of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada took place in Mosul. There are fears that these clashes might expand into open warfare amid deep differences over the disputed tribal areas extending from the Iranian border, through Kirkuk province and into Yazidi areas near the Syrian border. Terrorists have also been exploiting tribal differences for years. For historical roots, see:

On 15 June Jacob Stockdale, 25, allegedly used a shotgun to kill his mother and younger brother at his family's farm in Ohio. When deputies went to investigate, he shot himself, and is now in a critical condition in hospital. His oldest brother Calvin said: ‘I don't know why Jacob did what he did, but I do know he is my brother; I speak for our family when I say we love him and forgive him. The prayers and support for my family have been deeply appreciated and we ask for continued prayers for Jacob's healing - body, mind, and spirit.’ The reasons for the shooting are not clear. The Stockdale family are members of the Zion Reformed Church, part of the Presbyterian Church in America, The church is now accepting donations to help the family, and already more than half the $40,000 goal has been raised.