Davina McCall meets Eastbourne kinship carer to shine a light on ...

Davina met Wendy from Eastbourne along with three other carers from Kinship, a charity supported by Comic Relief.

Davina was able 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.

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.

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 seven in ten 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.

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.

“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”.

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.”