Grandparents needed
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
1w ago
As some of you will know Penny Young who runs the Worcestershire Grandparents Support Group has set up a government petition asking for a legal rights to grandchildren and grandparents, here is link, do please sign  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/655143 As with these new developments there is media interest, which is what we always hope for, it is all about once again raising that awareness. When grandparents see articles and items on the subject they realise they are not alone and reach out for help and support. For these items to work of course it needs a great deal of input ..read more
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Do you know this person?
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
3w ago
This week has been a week of extraordinary encounters. I was out having a meal with some friends and I was standing at the bar to order, when a young lady started talking to me. She was clearly very anxious and fragile, She told me she was about to meet up with her Dad who she hadn’t seen for 17 years, he was staying in the hotel next to the pub we were in. It brought back so many memories of when my son was a Dad meeting up with his estranged daughter for the first time in 11 years, I hope I reassured her and told her to just be herself. Later on that evening, I looked across the room and t ..read more
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What is a true,healthy relationship?
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
3w ago
Definition of relationship: A relationship is the way two or more people are connected, or the way they behave toward each other. In other words all parties need to want that relationship, a one sided relationship is never going to be successful. As humans we crave to be able to share our love and care with others, we weren’t meant to be isolated from others we need one another. Sadly all too often  the relationship we have with someone else is not reciprocated and we are left confused and sad. In an ideal scenario, when we feel things are not as they once were we should be able to si ..read more
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What is a true relationship?
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
1M ago
Definition of relationship: A relationship is the way two or more people are connected, or the way they behave toward each other. In other words all parties need to want that relationship, a one sided relationship is never going to be successful. As humans we crave to be able to share our love and care with others, we weren’t meant to be isolated from others we need one another. Sadly all too often  the relationship we have with someone else is not reciprocated and we are left confused and sad. In an ideal scenario, when we feel things are not as they once were we should be able to si ..read more
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Are expectations too high?
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
1M ago
When we find we are to become grandparents are our expectations too high? In fact should we really have any expectations at all? Not the best way to start a blog, with two questions, but they are important questions. When the birth of a grandchild is imminent we have hopes and dreams of how this new relationship will evolve, all too often those hopes and dreams are shattered. I have heard grandparents saying that they feel it is their right to become grandparents when their adult children get married or are in a stable relationship, I am not  sure I know what that means and if my interp ..read more
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Call to Action
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
2M ago
  Although we are called Bristol Grandparents Support Group, I hope by now you know that we support grandparents right across the UK and beyond. It is one of the positives of the internet,you can reach out to anyone wherever they may be. One of the aims of BGSG was always to enable other grandparents to help and support grandparents in their own areas, being that first port of call to someone in distress is so worthwhile. As I have explained many times, running a group in your area doesn’t have to be onerous, a group can be as small as two people meeting up, maybe in a local cafe or if ..read more
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Wounded healers
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
2M ago
I have often written about the impact running a support group can have on the group leaders, but it is such an important subject it needs to be acknowledged. Firstly, this is absolutely not about me in any way, but about the group leaders all over the UK, all who give of their precious time freely, although going through their own personal living bereavement , they are always holding out that hand of friendship to others. Listening and supporting grandparents who are going through this heartbreak can and does take its toll, carrying such distress on their shoulders can ultimately impact on t ..read more
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There is always Hope
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
3M ago
I am sure that you have all been moved by the story that has been in the press this week about Alex Batty. In 2017 he disappeared abroad after holidaying with his mother and grandfather, a little boy taken away from his much loved grandmother who had Special Guardianship for her grandson. It is proof that grandchildren never forget their grandparents, whatever is going on in their lives.This was clear in the message he sent his grandmother, I love you Grandma and I want to come home. We have no idea what has actually happened to him over those lost years, and I hope he is given the privacy ..read more
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How do we find joy?
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
4M ago
As I am writing this the rain is coming down relentlessly, the garden is awash, even the birds look fed up. Personally I hate the dark short days, and it can feel as though everything is swallowing me up. Like most people I know all the things I should be doing to change my mindset,but sometimes it just feels so hard to recover the joy in my life. I am not normally someone who has low moods, but it has been a challenging year for lots of different reasons, and I think I have lost the ability to feel joy. Also like everyone I have a public face, I can turn on the smile, laugh at the right tim ..read more
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‘It will be lonely this Christmas’, again.
The Bristol Grandparents Support Group
by Jane
4M ago
It is Nov 30th but everywhere Christmas has arrived. For so many, Christmas is a very difficult time, constant reminders of what is missing in so many lives, the hurt and pain is very real and for some it is a time for hiding away. Sadly this will not be the first Christmas that estranged grandparents have had to face, for some it is many Christmases now, but those feelings of loss are just as deep as they ever were. I asked some grandparents to share their thoughts: I was out for a team get together last night and felt totally alienated from the conversation which was all about family and ..read more
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