FNF is the leading UK charity supporting dads, mums and grandparents to have personal contact and meaningful relationships with their children following parental separation.

We offer information, advice and support services helping parents to achieve a positive outcome for their children.

Our online Forum and our network of over 50 UK Branches also offer pro-bono guidance of solicitors and others familiar with the operation of the family courts.

Join FNF or register for free to receive our newsletters, surveys, research and more.  As a member, you can also access our Forum in which experienced volunteers, including solicitors and McKenzie Friends can answer your questions. 

Visit your nearest FNF Branch where meetings are run by experienced and knowledgeable Volunteers who want to help you.  Some of the more established branches run solicitors' clinics for the benefit of our members. 

We  have a telephone Helpline (0300 0300 363) which provides first-line support.

FNF membership costs less than a few minutes of a typical solicitor's time - and could save you a fortune by being better prepared for the choices ahead!  Find out more about free registration and joining or simply donate.  Your support is crucial in enabling us to sustain our mission working for parents and children who are being denied a loving relationship.

This is a testimonial email we received recently from a service user:

“I have a solicitor who charges ￡285 + VAT per hour. She's good but she is very expensive. FNF with its ￡39 membership fee has given me more practical advice and provided me with company of fellow fathers who are striving to achieve contact with their children against all odds. Something my solicitor can never offer. I have had 3-4 sittings and have had more practical advice than I have had from my solicitor (who is process driven and has no emotional connect) for last 6-8 months and I don't even want to mention how much I have paid her in this time. FNF has been amazing for me. I would recommend it to all fathers going through a divorce and wanting contact with their child/children. We are all in this together.”

Press Release: Increases in the Use of Non-Molestation Orders since Scrapping of Legal Aid

PRESS RELEASE

Monday 15^th October 2018 00:01

Analysis: Huge Increases in the Use of Non-Molestation Orders since Scrapping of Legal Aid (LASPO)

Thousands misuse abuse orders to get Legal Aid
37% increase in 5 years since LASPO

Chances of being hit with a Non-Molestation Order depends on where you live

Children are denied good parents by bad court orders

The system needs new checks and balances
 to avoid abuse of innocent parties and children

The will of Parliament on bail conditions is being bypassed

FNF call on Family Courts and police to complete investigations
within three months and to deal firmly with bogus claims of violence

Families Need Fathers (FNF) is a national, UK shared parenting charity concerned with the welfare of children in the context of family separation. Changes in legislation over the last six years, designed to save money or protect people who have been subject to abuse have also had unintended consequences – ‘collateral damage’ harming or destroying healthy child-parent relationships and fuelling parental conflict.

Families Need Fathers has completed a review of trends in Non-Molestation Orders (NMOs or Non-Mols) usage. NMOs are injunctive Civil orders designed to protect anyone who has been abused from further abuse. Over 26,000 such orders are now issued annually. Following a period of decline in their use, there was a significant, immediate jump in their numbers following changes legislation in 2013 that scrapped Legal Aid in private family proceedings unless domestic violence is claimed (as opposed to shown) to have been involved. A further spike in their use has occurred since 2017 when legislation changes to increase scrutiny on the police when they wish to extend police bail without charges led to this back door approach being exploited to get around the scrutiny.

Since these legislative changes came into force NMOs have increased by 7,249 cases a year, an increase of 37%.

Read more ...