Special Guardianship

Tim had extremely limited contact with his son since before Covid, as his son had been placed under a Special Guardianship Order. The order placed his son under the guardianship of Tim's father, Fred, and stepmother, Sarah. 

Tim wanted to increase contact and start to develop a relationship with his son. Through mediation, Tim was able to understand the needs of his son - and how the process of engagement had to be slow and work around those needs. During the 1st mediation session Tim, Sarah and Fred were able to agree several ways that contact could be started. These steps included: making sure Tim was sent school reports; also regular letters/cards from his son. The 2nd mediation session was agreed to happen a couple of months later, to enable a review of how arrangements from the 1st mediation had progressed and to reach a final set of agreements. 

On conclusion of the final mediation session, a full set of agreements was made on how contact would continue to be enhanced over several months. 

The process enabled all parties to have their voice heard, and to ensure that the needs of the child was key to all decisions being made. Due to the nature and complexity of this case, the Trust had assigned it to co-mediation (meaning we had two mediators running the session).  The case has now closed but, as contact develops and the child moves through the education system, it is likely that the family will be back to review their case. 

The feedback from Sarah and Fred following the case was: "Would recommend, as we think it's good to try and sort out issues with people who are not actually involved".