Family's :500 for battling fathers

The family of a Bristol Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) member has given £500 to the campaign. Andy Stokes's relatives, who live in Canada, decided to donate the money as a show of support to the group.

They said they wanted the money to be put towards the court costs faced by the F4J suspension bridge protest superheroes.

Andy, aged 40, from Bradley Stoke, has not seen his two children for the last four years. They are now living in Spain with their mother and her new husband.

Andy's sister Susan Dunning, 47, spoke to the Evening Post from her home in Victoria, British Columbia, about why the family decided to hand over the money.

She said: "We wanted to do this in support of what Fathers 4 Justice are fighting for but also in memory of our mother who died in September.
"She supported the cause wholeheartedly as she was also unable to see her grandchildren.

"As a family we suffered through lack of contact with Andy's children but our suffering is, of course, nothing in comparison to Andy's.
"Our suffering is also unfortunately matched many thousands of times by the other fathers and family members who have had their children removed from their lives.

"It is only through the actions of F4J that change will come and the abusive family law system of the UK will be consigned into history.
"People may have different views about the F4J campaign, but if they didn't do what they do no one would have taken any notice.
"Recent history has shown that civil disobedience is ultimately what brings about change where injustice exists.

"When we heard about the demonstration on the Clifton Suspension Bridge we decided that we must do something to assist F4J keep up the fight." Mr Stokes, a project manager who works for a timber construction company in Melksham, said: "It's great that my family have chosen to do this but it's also because this issue has had a great effect on them too.
The £500 cheque was presented to the Bristol F4J group at a meeting in Downend.

Jeff Skinner, coordinator of the Bristol group, said: "We were absolutely over the moon to receive this generous donation. It shows that the campaign is being listened to by more and more people and most importantly that it's going international. I hope this means we can begin to work as a global community to fight the injustice felt by millions of people around the world."