Catherine Loves story
Stories inspire you never to give up.
About Catherine Love.
Catherine became educated at an open university and has qualifications in child psychology, child behavioural counselling, CBT Therapy for adults, CBT for children, neurolinguistic programming, autism awareness, Art therapy and family law to gain insight into supporting parents experiencing the family court, she and her team work tirelessly to help to support parents facing the possibility of their child /ren being removed.
Catherine has represented parents in the family court and at the high court, having had success supporting parents in revoking forced adoption orders.
Catherine has had experience in the court of protection, she advocates for human rights against discrimination against disabled people and in support of those with mental health. She was trained at the Samaritans and has worked there voluntarily for over five years.
Catherine has helped families fight over the course of almost 20 years to get her own and other children’s needs met after the father of her youngest two children had wanted to have their children removed from her care in the belief that she was limiting their sons by doing too much for them and not allowing them to grow up to experience their own freedom of expression as far as their limitations could allow.
Such ideas came from her two younger sons’ dad, The father of her two eldest sons had passed away leaving her to manage as a single parent with two young sons, one with a severe learning disability.
Catherine’s second son Nicholas had been born with a chromosome deletion at 14Q, a rare genetic condition that would mean he would suffer significant learning disabilities. A mental capacity report was later completed to assess if at age 18 Nicholas could litigate for himself to see if he could manage his own finances. This showed that his mental capacity was at a level of a child less than a child of 7 years and below.
Due to others’ ignorance of Nicholas’s needs, he had been forced to spend time in a care placement to assess his ability where professionals had wrongly placed her son’s mental capacity at the level of intelligence as a child of the mental age of a teenager, along with global developmental delays which affect his bodily functioning. Nicholas was not out of nappies until he was 12 years old. he was abused, bruised and exposed to adult information in a care assessment placement. Things that he could not make any sense of.
. Catherine’s third son was diagnosed with autism. For years she was forced to give up work to prioritise his needs as well as Nicholas/s and her eldest son Jon whilst sitting with her third son in school to keep him from running out of the school gates. Due to this, her eldest son grew up independent and fully able to face the world where he has now emigrated to Australia with his partner. She has tirelessly worked to ensure her children’s needs are appropriately addressed and met. A fourth child was a huge surprise but was loved and welcomed into the beautiful family that Catherine has managed to bring up alone. The fight for Nicholas’s needs was finally fully met by Medway council who funds direct payments so that Nicholas can go to a wonderful farm in Staplehurst whilst she employs carers to take her son out regularly.
Now with her third son fully able and employed as well as her youngest son, Catherine now stands up for and works closely with many parents going through similar.
This is a story that tells you never to give up.
Catherine has since met many other wonderful and inspiring parents such as Paula McGowan who was awarded an OBE for her work following the tragic death of her son Oliver.
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory training can be found here.
These wonderful parents have created a team to help show parents that even when everything seems to be stacked against them that keeping going can change everything,
Anyone wanting to know what it is like to bring up a child like Nicholas should watch a programme called there she goes which is on BBCiPlayer
Click the link above to sign in and watch this.
A passion for Politics because of Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn continues to show up and has stood up for the oppressed in his community and beyond regardless of the horrific slurs against his good name.
Before Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader I had no interest in politics. I could not see a candidate or party that was to my mind worth my vote. I wasn’t in the Labour Party then, but I saw him frequently at local campaigning events, or in the street. I was excited by his message which resonated with me on every level and so I joined when he stood for Labour leader.
From the words Jeremy spoke I grew a passion for politics. I got frustrated at the way both New Labour and then the Tories had narrowed the formal history curriculum, culminating in Michael Gove’s dull, monocultural, Empire-friendly story of Britain. Jeremy’s alternative vision was a layered multicultural history curriculum built around the struggle for rights.
I heard him articulate that vision alongside Dawn Butler MP and kinder transport refugee Lord Dubs when Labour launched its Race and Faith Manifesto during the 2019 election campaign. He spoke about the ‘Emancipation Education Trust that would integrate black history into mainstream history teaching.
There were plenty of TV cameras and journalists there, but their stories focused instead on a gaggle of far-right voters who parked lorries nearby with hoardings denouncing Jeremy and Labour as racists. Others highlighted the (unelected and pro-Tory) Chief Rabbi’s op-ed for The Times the evening before this launch, branding Jeremy an antisemite ‘unfit for office’, and predicting dire consequences ‘for Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel’ if he became PM.
Jeremy’s enthusiasm for progressive education shines through his monthly reports at Islington North CLP meetings, which routinely include vivid accounts of projects in the local schools he has recently visited.
The excitement generated through his leadership campaign in 2015 grew into the extraordinary election campaign of 2017 where he recovered millions of votes squandered by New Labour and enthused a generation of first-time voters. In my late 40’s I was one of them. Instead of the Tory landslide, the media promised, Theresa May lost her majority in a hung parliament. Around 2,500 votes spread across a few constituencies prevented Labour from forming a minority government, despite the internal sabotage documented in Labour’s infamous Leaked Forde Report.
The fear of a government that seriously threatened to redistribute political and economic power in favour of the impoverished and oppressed, unleashed the most ferocious all-out war across the establishment to destroy Jeremy politically and psychologically (he even received death threats). The stoicism with which he endured these attacks illustrates his inner strength, but I extend that to his family who continue to face an unbelievable level of harassment and intrusion in their lives.
Here are four more moments that show Jeremy’s values and humanity: two from the last few years; and two from the last few days.
October 2016: The 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street there was a march starting at Altab Ali Park, Aldgate and finishing in St George’s Gardens, Cable Street. There were 30 speakers including MPs, councillors, trade unionists, Bengali, Jewish, African-Caribbean, and Irish activists and a Cable Street veteran, Max Levitas. The final speaker who ended the rally on a powerful note was Jeremy. He spoke movingly of learning about Cable Street from his mother who was there in 1936 as a young demonstrator.
November 2019, the General Election campaign: Jeremy travelled all over Britain. We made a plan to use his limited time in his own constituency well. Wherever he went huge crowds were drawn, It took two hours to progress 100 yards as people came to talk to him, ask questions, or offer love and support.
The day that Jeremy learned from a photographer who had seen a tweet, that he was suspended by the Labour Party he looked worried but still carried on caring and listening to others. Most people, if they had a day like that probably have sacked it off, not Jeremy though. And that’s why everyone who understands the value of love and empathy loves him.’
Recently I was lucky enough to meet Jeremy at long last. My son Nick had met him in the doorway first and told him about nasty neighbors and asked him to go talk to my mum. At the bar, Jeremy walked straight up to me and I dont mind telling you that I cried. I asked for a hug of which he said of course. I told him I love you so much. that day has to go down as one of the best days of my life. I also met a long time friend Toto too, another Jeremy Corbyn supporter. Later Jeremy came over and asked me to put his glass on the bar. I took it and said, OMG I touched your hand. He smiled.. It was a wonderful moment for me that little smile will last in me forever..
We listened to his inspiring speach and every word that Jeremy speaks resonates wirh me just as will every speach he has ever made..
With love and Solidarity Jeremy.
