There are two girls in my area, one is 22 one is 20 and they have been raising their 2 younger brothers alone without parental support since 2020. The youngest boy is still only 11 and starts secondary school in September.

They have been working full time cleaning and doing every job they can find trying to manage. They do not have parents who are able to fulfil their responsibilities, due to mental health and substance abuse issues. They were under the care of social services who put them in the care of their grandparents which was going well until they both passed away during Covid in 2020. Since then they have been trying hard to manage the household.

Their household is consistently food insecure. I have been supporting them as best as I can for the last 6 months ( food shops where I can, vouchers for clothes and school supplies) and have now connected them with a Barnados advocate who is requesting their social services files and trying to help them get the funding they are entitled to. They are also now receiving help from a food bank.

Social services closed their case when the two girls became technically adults and they felt that the younger boys were no longer at risk, partly because of the girls doing a good job overall. However I dont think that social services have done their duty with this family. For example they are worried about debt they bave incurred with southwark council tax which they should never have been paying in the first place. Nobody explained to these girls what they were entitled to.

Life is very hard for them and they have had no childhood and not much joy in their lives, just hard work and burden from a very young age.

They both desperately want to get their driving licenses and I really want to help them to achieve that milestone. Any money they earn goes towards their brothers care and household bills and expenses, so passing their driving tests would be an impossible dream without outside support.