Charity launch for abused parents

Ayşe Adil, Karen Hunter and Joe Lettieri

THREE OF Enfield’s MPs came together to support a charity dedicated to supporting parents and carers who are abused by their adolescent child.

The headquarters of the Parent Abuse Reconciliation Service (PAARS) were opened by Conservative MPs David Burrowes and Nick de Bois, who represent Enfield Southgate and Enfield North respectively, and Andy Love, the Labour MP for Edmonton.

The charity was launched by Joe Lettieri, Karen Hunter and Turkish Cypriot Ayşe Adil, who are all from an educational background with nearly three decades of experience in supporting children and parents.

The founders said they began the project “because of the lack of support for parents who find themselves in this situation”.

They continued: “We work with the whole family in order to empower parents to engage more effectively with their children and end the abuse whether it is physical, emotional, financial or verbal.

“We are taking referrals from schools, social services, GPs, police, and self-referrals through our advertising and website.

“We know from experience that domestic violence has a massive impact, not only on the adults involved but also on the children, who may, but not always become aggressive towards their parent, and may go on to repeat the cycle when they have adult relationships of their own.”