Dear Editor
I was very disappointed that I did not  get any replies to my letter in the Feb/March issue of The Whistler, regarding the loss of contact with my grandchildren due to a family breakdown. Surely there must be people who your readers know to whom it has happened? It does not necessarily have to be in our Whistler area – anywhere in Brighton, Hove or the surrounding areas. Please could you let me know if you know of anyone? It does not have to be family, it could be friends or maybe people with whom you work. Here is our story…

Five years ago our daughter’s first marriage broke up and she met her present partner. She has a daughter from her first marriage who we were always able to see from the time she was born. After a few months our daughter got pregnant with her new partner and we were told that we would not see this child. That was devastating for us. We accepted it, as, at the time, we did not have the resources to fight it.

After nearly 5 years we decided to go to court to get access to the youngest granddaughter. We managed to get legal aid for a good solicitor and barrister. It took 14 months of court cases before we were finally given access to her. At first, we had to go to a contact  centre, as our little granddaughter did not know us.

Thankfully, it all went well and we now see her once a month and our other granddaughter every other weekend as she is with her dad the other times. The court case was mentally very upsetting, but thanks to family and friends, and the support of two grandparent websites we got through,(www.grandparentsplus.org.uk). We were horrified to see that there are millions of grandparents who have tried to gain access to no avail, due to all the costs. If you would like to hear any more about this story we would love to tell you. Please email me on lonelygrannie@gmail.com.  

Celia Steer