The boy's Mum and I have a positive co-parenting relationship. We fought for a few years, but we maintained a united co-parenting front and eventually acknowledged each other's efforts and pushed forward with mutual respect, something she wrote here in 2015. A lot has changed. I met Hannah, and all four kids instantly had a bigger family. The boys Mum, Stepdad, Hannah, and I have a WhatsApp group where the stepparents, more organised than the biological parents, maintain necessary communication. Their household has entertained the step-siblings when we've had emergencies. Hannah and the boys ..read more

11 years ago, I woke feeling dreadful from the night before. I was released from hospital following being sectioned four weeks earlier but drinking still controlled my life. Despite being a depressant, drinking drowned my sorrows, battled my mental health and psychosis and helped manage my disability pain. However, the truth is, I drank  because I wanted to. Although I had other acts of self-harm entering the hospital, alcohol was my greatest. The doctors noted, due to alcoholic jaundice, that my eyes were tinted yellow. If I continued drinking, alcohol would kill me. They indicated tre ..read more

  (A photo of me at college reading a theology book about the gospel of Matthew. I'm wearing a grey hoody, red wooly hat and no thick black glasses) Last year, a friend sponsored a theological taster course for me. Initially, I hesitated. I felt called to do more in my faith 11 years ago, but as my marriage ended in divorce, Mum died, I became unemployed, bankrupt, had a breakdown, and fought alcoholism, all in the space of 18 months I wondered if I imagined my calling. Over the years, I became an armchair theologian as relatives and friends bought me theology books for Christmas and bir ..read more

  The stepkids just returned from seeing their dad. Unfortunately, this is one of two occasions they regularly see him, with the occasional visit near A12's birthday. He's been offered every school holiday since they moved in with me. Yet he frequently declines these because "I'm working and cannot get time off" and "I'm only allowed 3 weeks of holiday." (Like that's even legal.)) I understand working parenthood, but I don't get why it's a problem. Parents nationwide work full-time, some with stay-at-home partners, but many are in dual-income households. School breaks are difficult, bu ..read more

My last update was six months ago. It's been so busy! I started college studying theology in September. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a Christian who questions a lot of "religion.". Always hard. I'm a Christian, but I'm not a Christian who aligns with a religious organisation. Despite attending and taking on official roles at a CoE church. It's difficult. What is written [in the Bible], what is then said within religious organisations, and what is then presented can vary. To the extent that each church, despite supporting a religious organisation, has different practises that align t ..read more

I grew up in a Royalist household. I wouldn't say I'm a royalist but I do have a great fondness for of the Royal family, especially the late Queen. Growing up we had many royal items in the house, such as decorative plates upon the wall, novelties of silver spoons, thimbles and cups celebrating each royal and specific events; every big event was even kept for prosperity via newspaper cuttings. My mum worked for the MOD and always had a sense of her service on behalf of the Queen. One personal highlight was not only meeting the Queen twice for her role but in one of those instances being awa ..read more

  There's many things that disabled people become resigned to. We live in a world designed by and for non disabled. In 2020 the world watched George Floyd take his last struggling breath in what clearly was a racially systemic action. Whilst we lived, we watched the reality of a negative continued action; this time it sent a ripple of "No more" across the world. What can only be seen as a revival against oppression George Floyd's death, discrimination and the #BlackLivesMatter movement affected millions of people worldwide. Visibly and emotionally impacting a generation to the core. A ..read more

When William entered mainstream education (Year R) he started at the top of his class but by the end of the academic year he was bottom.Behaviourally Will went from being enthusiastic, engaging and carefree to upset, anxious and emotional. He would have massive emotional outbursts heading to school and subsequently needed dragging in. Within the schooled environment his behaviour become worse. There were incidents between him and other children and his responses were labelled "abnormally aggressive". As a teacher (and also working with Ofsted) I knew the school's practices and policies tha ..read more

Accessibility is one thing that HAS made movement in the Rights for disabled people but not necessarily in the way you would think. The Disability Discrimination Act came into affect in 1995, 15 years later the Equality Act of 2010 encompassed discrimination and harassment of minorities based on gender, sexuality, race, age, religion, marriage and disability as unacceptable within employment and service industry; in theory, no one can refuse custom of anyone on these grounds. However, when it came to those with disabilities there was one major flaw: accessibility. Hypothetically, a disable ..read more

 "The key to human flourishing is within Communities that flourish; at the heart of God in all of us. It is vital that the Church is equipped with the tools to respond effectively and with compassion.”  The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury The realisation in my previous post on Ableism and of continued oppression within the timeframe of positive action hit hard. The Driedgar quote "Disability is the Last Civil Rights movement coming after the liberation [of others]" was written over 30+ years ago and the subsequent movement focused solely on the socio-str ..read more