Teddy bear demonstration outside Wellingborough court aims to highlight human cost of family court delays
Campaign group People Against Parental Alienation (PAPA) has brought its Lost Years Campaign to Wellingborough, placing rows of teddy bears and soft toys outside Wellingborough Family Court to represent the thousands of children losing years with parents and loved ones while trapped in lengthy family court proceedings.
The demonstration forms part of a national campaign calling for reform of the family justice system and greater recognition of the lasting harm caused by prolonged separation between children and their families.
PAPA is encouraging anyone who's been impacted in the Wellingborough area to visit the demonstration and lay a toy in support.
The Lost Years Campaign has held similar demonstrations outside courts in Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Portsmouth.
PAPA founder Simon Cobb said: "Every soft toy placed outside Wellingborough Family Court represents a child whose childhood is slipping away while adults debate, delay and defer decisions.
"These are not case numbers. These are children with birthdays, school plays, Christmas mornings and memories that can never be recreated."
The Lost Years Campaign was launched to highlight what PAPA describes as the hidden human cost of family court delays and broken child arrangement orders.
According to the campaign, thousands of children become caught up in family court proceedings every year, with many families waiting months or even years for final decisions.
Mr Cobb said: "When people hear the phrase 'court backlog', they think of paperwork. We think of missed hugs, missed birthdays and missed childhoods.
"A delayed hearing doesn't just affect a parent. It affects a child who is growing up every single day while waiting for adults to make decisions about their future."
The campaign's slogan, ‘Tears Wash Away Lost Years,’ reflects the grief experienced by both children and parents who have lost irreplaceable time together due to separation and prolonged legal proceedings.
PAPA is calling for faster family court proceedings, meaningful enforcement of child arrangement orders, greater accountability for repeated breaches of court orders and a child-centred approach that recognises the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships with both parents wherever safe and appropriate.
As the campaign arrives in Wellingborough, organisers hope the demonstration will continue to build momentum for reform and encourage politicians, legal professionals and the wider public to recognise the scale of the problem.
Mr Cobb said: "This campaign started because parents were telling us the same story over and over again. Different towns. Different courts. Different families. The same outcome. Years lost that can never be returned."
And he added: “The public is beginning to understand that family court delays are not measured in months — they are measured in childhoods.
"Children do not get a second chance at growing up. The question we are asking outside Wellingborough Family Court is simple: how many more childhoods must be lost before meaningful reform finally happens?"
The demonstration is part of PAPA's nationwide Lost Years Campaign, which seeks to raise awareness of the time lost by children and parents due to delays within the family justice system and advocates for reforms designed to prevent future generations from suffering the same fate.
People Against Parental Alienation (PAPA) supports thousands of families across the UK and internationally while campaigning for family justice reform.