Elise is 10 years old with 2 teenage sisters. The girls haven’t seen their dad in 5 years due to him serving a prison sentence. They live at home with their mum, who they absolutely adore, though mum struggles with drug and alcohol dependency.

One night, everything changed. A car pulled up outside of the house and the children were taken from home and moved into seperate foster care homes across the county. Elise protested and reached for her sisters in fear, not understanding why they couldn’t stay together.

Elise felt confused and abandoned. Where was mum? Why couldn’t they be together? She didn’t understand why the people who were supposed to love her had let this happen.

Elise struggled to trust her foster carers. She kept waiting for mum to come back, for things to return to normal. The uncertainty was overwhelming – nothing felt permanent or safe anymore.

Nico, Issy and Neyo were placed with their nan when mum’s drug and alcohol dependency meant they couldn’t stay at home. They still saw mum sometimes, but not often.

The children were happy with nan – it felt safe, they adored her, and she adored them. After months of uncertainty, life finally felt stable again.

But nan became distant and unwell. When she was diagnosed with cancer, the children tried to care for her, scared of losing another person they loved. When nan died, their world collapsed again.

Overnight, the children were split up and placed in separate care homes. Nico struggled with intense, overwhelming emotions. The boy who’d been coping so well began acting out at school, his grief and rage spilling over. He became unable to focus in class, distracted, tearful and distraught. His friendships started breaking down as he struggled to regulate his anger on the playground.