This week, we’d like to help two grandparents who are raising their teenage grandchildren.

They took the children into their care so they wouldn’t go into foster care. The children had been through a lot of trauma at home, and have a range of complex needs, including ADHD and autism, a serious eating disorder, and mental health conditions. Recently one of the children tried to run away, and said she was hearing voices encouraging her to self-harm. They’re getting support from mental health services, but it's so much for the grandparents to deal with.

They’re doing everything they can to give the children a stable home, but the social worker said ‘they are exhausted’ and under a lot of pressure. Both grandparents have their own health problems, and one is also caring for her very elderly mother. The house is cramped so they sleep in the living room to give the children their own bedrooms.

Money is very tight. A lot of it goes on day-to-day living costs, including buying the specific foods their grandson is able to eat.

Their social worker said the children have poor school attendance. “Despite the grandparents’ best efforts to encourage them into school, it often fails, leaving them feeling as if they are ‘failing’ the children.”

The children’s bedrooms are in poor condition. They also need new mattresses, resources for home-schooling, and some safety equipment that the eldest teen needs for his college course. We’d also like to help to give the grandparents a more comfortable sleeping space, and some support with living costs to take the pressure off them for a little while.