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New Red Nose Day film released today to raise awareness of the incredible work of kinship carers
Davina McCall, who grew up in kinship care, met Wendy, Kelly and Meyrem, from Kinship, a charity supported by Comic Relief
Kinship care is when a child is raised by a relative or family friend because they are unable to live with their parents
The four women discuss their own personal experiences and shine a light on the challenges that many families face
There are more than 180,000 children in kinship care in the UK
A preview of the film can be viewed on YouTube
To watch the full film of Davina's visit with Kinship, tune in to BBC Morning Live tomorrow from 9.30am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
Davina will host the Red Nose Day night of TV on Friday 15 March on BBC One at 7pm alongside Joel Dommett, Sir Lenny Henry, Maya Jama, Paddy McGuiness, Rosie Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan and David Tennant
For more information on how to get involved, visit www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday
Wednesday 13 March: Davina McCall helps to shine a light on the incredible work of kinship carers this Red Nose Day, while sharing her own first-hand experience of growing up in kinship care, having been raised by her grandmother from the age of four, in a new film released today.
Kinship carers are the relatives or family friends who step up to raise children when their parents can’t. There are more than 180,000 children in kinship care in the UK that are living with family members in a stable and loving home.
Money raised by Red Nose Day, which returns on Friday 15 March, will support Kinship, the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales.
Lucy Peake, CEO of Kinship, said: “Unlike foster carers or adoptive parents, there is little awareness about kinship care and as a result, little support available. Our research tells us that more than 7 in 10 kinship carers do not feel they are getting adequate support to raise the children in their care, despite stepping up at a moment’s notice to raise children in a loving and stable home."
To show how donations to Red Nose Day can make a real difference for families facing challenging circumstances here in the UK, Davina, who was raised by her grandmother from the age of four, spent time with Wendy, Kelly and Meyrem, who all became kinship carers after taking in the child of a relative.
Speaking about their experiences in the film, which can be previewed on YouTube, the women all described feeling isolated, and facing struggles both financially and emotionally in what was an incredibly difficult time. None of the women were even aware of the term ‘kinship carer’ and struggled alone for a long time, until they were directed to Kinship.
Davina McCall said: “Red Nose Day and Comic Relief is part of my DNA, I have lived and breathed this charity my entire adult life. I love what they do, how they work, the passion of their employees, and the charities that they support. Kinship is a charity particularly close to my heart and one I’ve supported before I even knew Red Nose Day were involved in helping spread their message.
“Getting to know Wendy, Kelly and Meyrem was extremely moving - not only was I able to learn more about their amazing work, but I was able to have conversations that I relate to on a deep level and was able to honour my grandmother who did such a sterling job with me.
“Taking in the child of a family member or friend is really, really, hard. Sometimes people end up sleeping on sofas to try and make their beds available for kids that they’ve taken in, sometimes they’ll go without food in order to feed the children that they’ve suddenly started looking after. But this act can change a child’s life forever and the work that Kinship does to support these families is really valuable. I know that times are tough but even giving a little this Red Nose Day, can make a massive difference."
Kinship offers free training sessions, one-to-one support, peer support groups, an expert advice line and an online information hub. Comic Relief funding supports Kinship’s #ValueOurLove campaign, which calls for equal support between kinship families and foster and adoptive families. They also train kinship carer campaigners, including Wendy, Kelly and Meyrem, who work tirelessly to raise awareness of the challenges facing families and to get kinship carers the recognition and support they need. Over the past year, more than 12,000 kinship carers across England and Wales and their supporters have taken an active role in the campaign.
Grandmother kinship carer, Wendy said: “I was so used to working full-time to my own schedule, and then I suddenly had a small child who was fully dependent on me and the whole structure of my life changed. I just felt so isolated. For a very long time I really did feel like I was the only grandparent in the world bringing up grandchildren, I knew nobody else. But through Kinship I've met others – not just grandparents – in the same situation as me and I’ve realised I'm not alone in doing this. Kinship has given us our own identity.
“The funding from Comic Relief has been amazing, it’s helped bring kinship carers together, to let them know that support is out there, and has helped get kinship care more widely known."
Lucy Peake, CEO of the Kinship, added: “It was wonderful to see Davina meet some of the kinship carers that we support and empower to campaign for the financial, practical and emotional support that families like theirs need. As someone who grew up in kinship care herself, Davina had real insight into the experiences of kinship families and the challenges they have faced. Comic Relief’s support has been transformational in enabling kinship carers to be seen, heard, valued and better supported."
The visit comes as Davina is preparing to host the Red Nose Day night of TV, which returns to BBC One on Friday 15 March at 7pm. Davina will present the star-studded night of entertainment, which will be jam packed with hilarious sketches, live performances, exciting surprises and big prizes, alongside Joel Dommett, Sir Lenny Henry, Maya Jama, Paddy McGuiness, Rosie Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan and David Tennant.
To watch the full film of Davina's visit with Kinship, tune in to BBC Morning Live tomorrow from 9.30am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
To find out how you can get involved in Red Nose Day, visit https://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday
ENDS
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
Kinship carer, Meyrem said: “I became a kinship carer overnight when I took in additional family members. Even though I suddenly had three more children to look after and my family was complete, I'd lost myself and I felt very, very isolated.
“Kinship has helped build me back up and given me this voice. My first campaigning experience was speaking to a parliamentary taskforce, I'll never forget standing there shaking and feeling so nervous but thinking, ‘I’ve got to do this for other kinship carers’ - and it worked, we ended up getting the therapeutic support that we needed for our children.
“Because of Comic Relief funding, it’s easier to explain what a kinship carer is, more and more people are aware. My hope is that one day everyone knows."
Kinship carer, Kelly said: “The term kinship is not widely understood and never has been, I was a kinship carer for seven years before I even heard the term!
“We met Kinship seven years into taking in my family member. I met a project worker and started to go to a support group and seek advice. I then quickly engaged in the organisation as a volunteer. Years later, I am working for Kinship as a Senior Campaigns Officer, I am helping build campaigns and offer the perspective of a kinship carer with lived experience. It is great to know I can influence at such a large scale and change the lives of other kinship carers."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Ana Diaz, PR Officer 020 7820 2080 a.diaz@comicrelief.com (opens in new window) www.comicrelief.com/media-centre Out of hours enquiries: 07531189914
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day is back on Friday 15 March 2024!
It’s that time of year when incredible cake-bakers, joke-makers, telly-watchers, t shirt-wearers, Red Nose-buyers and laugh-til-you-cryers, do something to fight poverty through humour and fun, for communities here in the UK and around the world.
We know that when people come together, great things can happen. So, this March, Comic Relief is uniting the nation to Do Something Funny for Money. The money raised could help put food on plates and roofs over heads, keep little ones safe and help support families affected by conflict and climate change. Having a laugh can make a serious difference.
There are lots of ways to take part in Red Nose Day. To find out more, visit www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday or follow @comicrelief on social media.
Red Nose Day is an initiative of Comic Relief.
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a UK charity that uses the power of entertainment and popular culture to work towards a vision of a just world free from poverty. We raise money to support organisations that are closest to the communities who can make change happen. We support work that will tackle the impact of poverty, injustice, conflict, and climate change in the UK and around the world.
Since launching in 1985, we have raised over £1.5 billion thanks to the huge generosity and kindness of the public and our partners. For more information on our work, visit www.comicrelief.com or follow @comicrelief on X(opens in new window) (formerly Twitter), Facebook(opens in new window), Instagram(opens in new window), LinkedIn(opens in new window) and TikTok(opens in new window) for the latest content and news.
Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).
About Kinship
Leading kinship care charity, Kinship, supports more than 10,000 kinship carers across England and Wales each year, through free training sessions, one-to-one support, peer support groups, an expert advice line and its online information and support hub. Through its network of kinship carer campaigners and #ValueOurLove campaign, Kinship works to raise awareness of the challenges facing kinship families and get kinship carers the recognition and support they need. For more information visit www.kinship.org.uk(opens in new window).
