So. At the point that my children fell into crisis, public services were unable to offer timely support. We were fortunate at that time we could write a cheque to self fund some emergency care. We could manage that for about 3-6 months. That was all. 7 years later, we were still self funding care. CAMHS had discharged us against our wishes after 4 months, they didn’t have the appropriate specialist on staff, they offered something else which made everything worse. There was no paediatric care pathway on NHS for our child’s since identified genetic condition. 1 co-morbid condition we could transfer to adult services at 18. There was nothing until then, we’d have to wait 9 years. We were a single income household as one of us had to become full time parent carer. The sole earner went thru redundancy 6 times in 9 years, driving us further into debt. Our home fell into disrepair as we couldn’t afford to maintain it. Our savings lasted 9 months, 9 years later, we’ve borrowed money and yes, @Keir_Starmer, we have lived with that gnawing feeling in our stomach for years on end that we are financially on a knife edge. We’re the undeserving middle class you have in your mind’s eye. Us and tens of thousands of families, who’ve been punched down, woken up to structural injustice and have had enough. We advocate for every family who are struggling, every family pushed to the brink, every family unable to get back up. Please, let’s stop the Hunger Games of need. Let’s not perpetuate harmful narratives around undeserving poor, undeserving middle class. Tired tropes which continue division and discrimination. Instead, let’s aspire to build a better Britain for every child and every family. Let’s ensure equity, dignity, co-operation and participation are upheld. Let’s do better. Together. 🙏🏻 @BethRigby @SkyNews @NotFineinSchool

Powerful words. Like @CarrieGrant1 we’ve walked that exact path twice. 64k families sharing the same heartache via @NotFineinSchool. The pressure is untenable. Kids and families are being broken, left with the long shadow of trauma and recovery. These are hard conversations to have. It starts by raising the standard of the conversation about parents, children and families. It starts by upholding dignity for all those needing support. It starts not by asking leading questions to confirm institutional bias about parents’ perceptions, but by understanding how parents are perceived by institutions (and power holders). Let’s break down the barriers to come together and find the solutions. Together. Join us. teamsquarepeg.org