| Robin the Boy
Wonder - where did he come from?
-----------------------------------------------
The first woman protester for Fathers
4 Justice (F4J) says she has no regrets
about joining the high-profile group,
even though it has landed her in court.
Helena Tilbury, 19, known as Ellie,
of Abridge Way, Barking, joined the
infamous group in June 2004 in response
to the frustration of not being able
to see her father much when her parents
split up.
On Friday she received a suspended
sentence for her part in a protest
over railway lines in December.
Speaking exclusively to the Recorder,
Miss Tilbury explained: "When
my parents separated, I was stopped
from seeing my father. I think every
child needs to see their dad when
they're growing up. I was at
primary school and all the children
would be talking on Monday about what
they'd done with their dads over the
weekend and I'd have to lie about
what I'd done with my dad. [...] It's
the courts' fault. Me and my three
brothers all lived with our mum and
we didn't see our dad for ages.
We all went through the court process
so our dad could see us, but in the
end we just
gave up. As we got older we
managed to find him ourselves."
She has now been living with him for
four years, but added: "There's
hundreds of kids that go through this
every day. I wanted to get involved
because it's not just the fathers
who suffer."
After the trial, she said: "Going
to court won't stop me. The
reason we have to do high-profile
protests is because we need the publicity
for our cause. If you don't
have the publicity, no one's going
to take any notice of you."
And on being the most high-profile
female member of the group, she said:
"If there's other women whose
feelings are strong like mine, then
it would be good if they got involved
too."
F4J is campaigning for a change in
the law to grant fathers equal access
rights to children. It has gained
notoriety around the country after
a series of high-profile protests,
usually by men.
Source:
www.bdrecorder.co.uk/content/barkinganddagenham/
recorder/news/story.aspx?brand==RECOnline&category=newsBarkDag&tBrand
==northlondon24&tCategory=newsBarkDag&itemid==WeED13%20Oct%202005%2009%3A33%3A26%3A803
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