RSS feed Sam Smethers's Archive

Sam Smethers

Sam Smethers

Sam Smethers is the Chief Executive of Grandparents Plus, and the former Director of Public Affairs of the Equal Opportunities Commission. She has worked as a communications consultant and also has eight years experience of working in parliament. Sam is a former trustee of the Fawcett Society and of Gingerbread. She has three children and was brought up by her grandparents.

Grandparents Plus is the national charity which champions the vital role of grandparents and the wider family in children’s lives – especially when they take on the caring role in difficult family circumstances. The charity has made a number of high profile interventions into the family policy debate during the past year, challenging the focus on the nuclear model of family life and demonstrating the contribution that grandparents and the wider family make. The charity wants to see the grandparental role better recognised and rewarded and the private sector, public services and employers recognising and responding to the growing contribution that grandparents are making.

Web: http://www.grandparentsplus.org.uk
  • Society & Welfare

    Grandparents raising their grandchildren ask: “What if we said no?

    28th October 2010 — Filed under: Society & Welfare, Working Life

    Sam Smethers Sam Smethers

    We share the Government’s vision for the Big Society. No honestly, we do.  Grandparents and the wider family are at the vanguard of that society.  So if we get it wrong for them, we’re in trouble and the Government’s flagship policy won’t get off the ground.

    Despite recent progress such as the Grandparent NI Credit for the state pension, and a commitment from government of greater recognition for grandparent carers, those who are raising their grandchildren are set to be penalised by a toxic combination of welfare reforms and spending cuts. 

    Continue Reading →