Poignant pile of soft toys outside Milton Keynes Family Court reflects 'lost children' in parents' disputes

The ‘Lost Years Campaign’, organised by PAPA (People Against Parental Alienation) is strictly child-focused, highlighting the emotional impact on children who go long periods without seeing a parent or sibling.

It aims to raise awareness of how delays and systemic issues affect families across Milton Keynes.

PAPA founder Simon Cobb said: “When families are divided, time isn’t just lost — it’s taken. Every year, thousands of children become trapped in the slow turning wheels of the family court system. What begins as a dispute too often becomes a sentence — years of separation from a parent, years of memories never made, years of love turned into longing.”

He added: “In that time, children grow taller, voices change, faces mature. Parents watch from a distance, counting birthdays instead of candles. By the time the court reaches its decision, the little hands that once reached out for comfort may no longer fit inside their own.

The Lost Years campaign’s aim is to” bring forward the human faces hidden behind legal files”, said Simon.

In 2023, more than 100,000 children were caught up in the backlog of family court cases in England and Wales.

Private law cases (where children’s living or contact arrangements are at issue) took an average of over 11 months to resolve, and in care proceedings (public law), where a child’s future is being decided, the average wait reached 46 weeks for a final decision in many cases.. In December 2024, there were more than 4,000 children who were involved in proceedings that had been open for nearly two years or more.

Although there is a time limit - 26 weeks - for public law cases (introduced in 2014), this has never been met nationally, says Simon.

Meanwhile, a survey into parental alienation found that 35% of alienated parents had not spent any direct time with their child in more than five years

PAPA is asking for a faster court process focused on resolution, as well as a reimbursement of contact time to the alienated parent.

They are also asking for fines or jail time to be imposed in cases of repeated breaches for broken court orders.

“Help us make sure that no child grows up waiting for permission to be loved, and no parent spends another year longing for the sound of their child’s voice. Together, we can wash away the pain — and begin to heal the Lost Years,” said Simon.

One local dad struggling to see his child told the Citizen: “I have spent more than two and a half years locked in ongoing family court proceedings concerning my young child, facing repeated delays, inconsistent safeguarding responses, and long periods without meaningful contact. Despite presenting professional evidence and raising serious concerns, the case remains unresolved, leaving both myself and my child without stability or clarity.”

Another said: “10 months of a holding pattern for courts to safely deal with false allegations, robbing a father daughter of their bond when they enjoyed 50/50 shared care, child misses out on her swimming lessons all because one parent hates me more than loves her.”