Nearly a third of families in the constituency are headed by a sole adult

The Ealing Central and Acton MP, Rupa Huq, was joined by parliamentary colleagues and celebrities from the borough launching the All Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) for Single parents.

The annual day began in the United States in 1984 and fraternal greetings via video message from US Congresswoman Gwen Moore were aired. Common themes among the speakers were the stigma surrounding single parent families and how this significant category is often overlooked by legislators.

Some 40 MPs of all parties were in attendance including Local Labour colleagues, Steve Pound ( Ealing North) and Ruth Cadbury ( Brentford and Isleworth).

The Minister for Sport and Civil Society Mims Davies handed out a “Points of Light” award to Billy of the group Dads House and described how she and group chair Rupa Huq MP often swapped single parent woes despite fact that their politics differ, with one being Conservative and the other Labour. Huq went on to urge the attendees to work together to take action to ensure the changes that are desperately needed are made sooner rather than later.

The former Eastenders actress, Michelle Collins, herself a single parent, told the gathered audience of how there used to be so much stigma attached to being brought up by just one parent and how she preferred to tell her classmates that her dad was dead rather than the truth - that she and her sister were being brought up by their mother.

Ealing comedian, Shappi Khorsandi, gave a moving and heartfelt speech about the struggles many single parents face and urged MPs to reverse the closure of Sure start centres which could be a life saver for stressed out families.
She made the assembled audience laugh as she revealed how her young daughter once pointed to Jeremy Corbyn and called him 'daddy' because she thought it meant 'man'.

Sports presenter and journalist, Adrian Chiles, spoke of how incredulous both he and his former wife, Jane Garvey, found it that lone parents had to cope with a multitude of stresses as they cared for their young children. He said '' It's all around us, it's extremely common and there's a million daily miracles happening all aound us.'

The Day of the Single Parent event, held at Westminster was started in the USA as a celebration of the hard work many lone adults do in caring for their children.

Rupa Huq and Brentford Labour MP Ruth Cadbury

Rupa Huq said nearly a third of all families in the Ealing Central and Acton are headed by just one adult and noted the importance of acknowledging the vital contribution single parents make to society. She said: “I’m really pleased and proud that so many people came out to support the Single Parent APPG. There are groups for everything including curry, Cider and every country under the sun but the important phenomenon of child-rearing solo is underappreciated and overlooked.

It's expected the day will become an annual celebration.

4th July 2019