Child Focused Grants
We are pleased to announce two new grants for families to help them with the cost of mediation.
Due to the generosity of the Cambridge Community Foundation and the Warwick & Dominey Fund the Trust has secured dedicated grant funding to enable children to be central to the mediation process. These funds are:
- A £150 grant for families who have a child with special educational needs towards their mediation costs.
Families with children and young adults that have learning difficulties or physical differences are more likely to see parental separation and divorce. For example, a study based on 391 parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a matched representative sample of parents of children without disabilities showed that 23.5% of parents separated compared to 13.8% of the families without ASD. Our work at the Family Mediation Trust focusing on helping families navigate the challenging decisions they have during their separation. For example, agreeing how the children should be educated, where they will live and how will the parents co-parent. For families with children with additional support needs, we have also found that this process takes longer and has more challenges.
- A £150 grant for families that use the Child Inclusive Mediation Process.
The Child Inclusive Mediation Process enables a child to add their wishes and feelings into the mediation decision making arena. This is managed through specially trained mediators and has proven to be a highly effective way for families to move forward. However, the process does take longer to deliver and incorporates additional mediation time. This fund will enable families to access the approach, without the additional costs.
The two grants are open to any families that have one parent permanently residing in the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined area. The mediator will highlight the availability of the funding to suitable families when undertaking the initial MIAM.
The first stage to access the support is to book a MIAM.
