Alliance Family Mediation

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Alliance Family Mediation Helping families navigate separation, child arrangements, and financial discussions with clarity, compassion, and professionalism.

Supporting constructive conversations and practical solutions outside of court.

A message on Facebook. A missed call. A text arrives at 11 pm. A comment on a photograph that you were not expecting to ...
12/10/2026

A message on Facebook. A missed call. A text arrives at 11 pm. A comment on a photograph that you were not expecting to see.

In the early stages of separation, communication can come at you from every direction, and each new notification can bring a fresh wave of tension.

Finding one clear way to communicate can make a real difference for your peace of mind. For many parents, that starts with muting or unfollowing each other on social media, so your new life can stay private without it feeling like a deliberate snub.

From there, it helps to agree on how the important things actually get said. Rather than WhatsApp messages pinging at all hours or a phone ringing when you least expect it, many parents find it easier to agree that email becomes the main way to communicate important information.

If that still feels difficult to stick to, a dedicated app built for separated families, such as OurFamilyWizard or AppClose, offers another option: it lets you schedule messages, share updates, and manage schedules and costs all in one place, which can cut down on the back-and-forth altogether.

There is no single right answer, only the approach that keeps things calm and clear for you and your family.

If figuring out how to communicate feels difficult right now, a free 10-minute consultation is a gentle way to see how mediation can help.

World Mental Health Day is a good reminder to think about how separation affects the whole family.Children whose parents...
10/10/2026

World Mental Health Day is a good reminder to think about how separation affects the whole family.

Children whose parents separate are around twice as likely to experience mental health difficulties as those in two-parent households, and those who go through it between the ages of seven and 14 are 16% more likely to show behavioural difficulties than their peers. Many children become very good at seeming fine even when they are not, and it is often only later that the effects become clear.

Part of protecting your children's well-being is protecting your own and your ex-partner's too. When one of you is struggling, it tends to affect how you both parent and that, in turn, affects the children caught in the middle. Simple healthy boundaries such as not discussing certain topics in front of the children, giving each other space after a difficult conversation, or checking in on how the other is coping (even when it is hard to do) can make a real difference to everyone.

Removing some of the uncertainty around arrangements is one of the simplest ways to protect your own mental health during separation, and mediation can help you do exactly that. Book a free 10-minute consultation to find out more.

Keeping your private life private is understandable, and for many of us that is exactly how we want it to stay. But when...
07/10/2026

Keeping your private life private is understandable, and for many of us that is exactly how we want it to stay. But when a family situation changes, letting the school know a few key things can make everyday logistics much easier for everyone, including your children.

Here are five things worth sharing with the school:
👥 Any safeguarding restrictions, such as a parent who should not collect the children.
🚸 Who is responsible for pickups and drop-offs, and on what days.
📅 Whether you need separate parents' evening appointments.
📧 Making sure you both receive newsletters and important updates directly.
📞 Your current contact number and email address.

Schools want to support your child, and a little information goes a long way in helping them do that well. If you're working out practical arrangements like these and would like guidance, you can book a free 10-minute consultation.

When a family separates, grandparents often find themselves caught in the middle of a situation they did not create. For...
05/10/2026

When a family separates, grandparents often find themselves caught in the middle of a situation they did not create. For many children, grandparents are a steady comfort: Sunday roast, sleepovers, being spoiled just a little more than usual and that closeness matters even more when everything else at home is changing.

If grandparents have helped with childcare in the past, it is worth talking about whether that arrangement continues. Are you both comfortable with your ex-partner's parents doing pick-ups and drop-offs the way they may have done before?

It also helps to think about communication. If your children are not with you and something wonderful happens- a good test result, a goal scored, a lost tooth are you happy for your ex-partner to share that news with your parents in the moment, as they might once have done?

Grandparents did not choose this change, and many find it hard to watch a family they love go through it. Keeping them gently informed wherever possible can mean a great deal to everyone involved.

If you would like to talk through how contact and communication could work for your own family, a free 10-minute consultation is a simple first step.

02/10/2026

Choosing a school for your child can feel like one of the toughest decisions, and here in Canterbury and across the UK, many families are in the thick of it.

For separated parents, the process often comes with an extra layer. A viewing that used to be a shared diary entry now needs a conversation first. A form that used to be filled in together now needs an agreement on what to write.

While some parents choose to view schools together, keeping the decision shared from the very start, others prefer to visit separately and compare notes afterwards; there's no single right way, only the way that works for your family.

The difficulty tends to come when you do not agree, but a decision still needs to be made, and it needs to be made in time. For children starting secondary school in September 2027, the national closing date for applications is the 31st of October 2026, and for those starting primary school, the closing date for applications is the 15th of January 2027.

If you and your ex are finding it hard to reach a decision together, mediation can give you a calm space to talk it through, and you are very welcome to book a free 10-minute consultation to see whether it could help.

Being away from your children, whether that is because of work, distance, or where you each live now, can still feel lik...
30/09/2026

Being away from your children, whether that is because of work, distance, or where you each live now, can still feel like a quiet kind of ache. A phone call helps, but it does not always feel like enough to fill the gap between goodbye and the next hello.

The families who manage this well tend to get a little creative, by introducing small rituals that make a child feel close to you, even from a distance.

📱 Video call during an ordinary moment, while they do their homework, get ready, or simply potter about, as long as it suits the other parent and does not pull your child away from what they are doing.
🎬 Watch the same film or programme apart, then talk about it together afterwards, even if it is only for ten minutes.
📚 Record a video of you reading a bed time story, or read a chapter of the same book separately and compare notes on your next call.
🎨 Give each video call its own small theme, a silly hat, a favourite food, a guessing game, so it becomes something to look forward to rather than routine.

None of this replaces being together in person, it just helps keep the connection going in the meantime.

If finding the right rhythm for time apart feels tricky, a free ten minute consultation can help you work it out.

28/09/2026

There is a particular kind of quiet that boys learn from an early age, absorbed from what is around them rather than anything anyone actually says, the sense that they are just meant to cope. A shrug instead of an answer. A too quick, I'm fine. A bedroom door that stays shut a little longer than it used to. None of it means he is coping. More often, it means the opposite.

Today is Sons Day, and he does not have to hold anything together, not the mood in the house, not his mum, not his dad, not himself. He is allowed to fall apart a little too, and still be looked after properly when he does.

Child inclusive mediation gives children exactly that kind of space, a chance to be heard gently, without ever being asked to decide or take sides. A free ten minute consultation can talk you through how it works.

25/09/2026

Daughters notice more than we ever give them credit for. The tone of a phone call. A tense silence at the door. The way a room feels different the moment both parents are in it at once, even when nobody has said a word.

Today is Daughters Day, and however this season of change looks in your family, your daughter is learning from how you carry it. Not from what you say about the other parent, but from how gently you treat yourself, how patiently you treat her, and how you hold the moments that do not go to plan.

She does not need two parents who agree on everything. She needs to feel loved without complication, and safe without ever having to manage anyone else's feelings to get there.

If you would like a little support finding that steadiness, for her and your family, a free ten minute consultation is available whenever suits you.

23/09/2026

Today marks the autumn equinox. The trees start to let go of their leaves, not because anything is wrong, but because they no longer have the resources to carry them through the winter. It is not damage, it is a decision to clear away the old and leave room for the new when spring comes round again.

People carry things the same way, long after they have stopped being useful. An old argument. A point that once felt worth winning. What mattered enormously six months ago does not always matter now, though it can be hard to see that clearly while emotions are still running high.

This is often where mediation helps most, not by telling you what to let go of, but by creating enough space and calm to see it for yourself.

And if separating out what still matters feels difficult, a free ten minute consultation can help you see it more clearly.

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