Contact Centre Opens For Divorced Families
Chiswick solicitor says it will help parents and children keep in touch
A new contact centre which will help divorced parents keep in touch with their children has opened in Kingston-upon-Thames, and will serve the west London area including Chiswick.
Local solicitor Carolyn Nathanson, who works with the volunteer South West London Resolution group, (www.resolution.org.uk), has welcomed the opening of the Kingston Contact Centre. Resolution is a group of over 6500 family lawyers which promotes a non-confrontational, constructive approach to resolving family disputes and campaigns for improvements to the family justice system and the protection of childrens' rights.
(l-r)Carolyn Nathanson, Vicki Sales of Dixon Ward, Jean Thompson Kingston Contact Centre Administrator, and Reverend Lesley Charlton of Kingston United Reformed Church
“Today, more than one in three children will see their parents split up before they reach their sixteenth birthday. It is therefore vital to ensure that both parents can continue to maintain their relationship with their children, despite their own relationship having broken down,” said Ms. Nathanson who works in Owen White & Caitlin solicitors in Chiswick.
This new supported contact centre is located at the Kingston United Reformed Church and is ideally situated in the centre of town. There are two separate rooms available for contact with both younger and older children. Before the Kingston Contact Centre opened people would either not be able to have contact with their children or would have to travel further for contact to the nearest suitable contact centre.
Rev. Lesley Charlton from the Church says ; “The Centre is for the children to keep contact with the parent they don’t live with”.
She added that the initiative is not restricted to Christians, and is taking place on Sundays because it could be a particularly lonely time.
To show their appreciation and support for this new facility, the South West London Resolution group have donated £400. Like many other vital community services this contact centre is relying solely on the support of volunteers, who will man the facilities during its opening hours.
The only other local centre is the Stephen's Place Children's Centre in Hammersmith, but they are a larger establishment offering other services as well. It is believed that parents may find the Kingston Contact Centre more approachable for low key contact disputes that just need to get contact started again.
Further information can be obtained from the National Association of Child Contact Centres www.naccc.org.uk/home or by calling 0845 4500 280. If people are interested in attending the Kingston Contact Centre, they should make contact first to the NACCC for a referral form.
September 28, 2012