S1 E51 - Why acrimonious parental separation is bad for the kids and how to prevent it | James Hayhurst

James is the founder of the Positive Parenting Alliance and creator of the Parents Promise. Having seen up close the multitude of issues in the family courts and the numbers of children and parents affected James wanted to begin a new conversation about separation.

In May 2021, after many conversations with like-minded people and organisations the Parents Promise was launched. Backed by over 20 organisations ranging from the likes of the children’s mental health charity Place2Be to Relate to Black Mums Upfront the aim of the Alliance is to effect important cultural change around separation in the UK and beyond. In January 2023 the Alliance launched a ground-breaking HR initiative encouraging a number of large UK corporations including Tesco, ASDA, Natwest and Unilever to sign up to recognise separation as a ‘life event’. In 2025 he turned his focus to the subject of separation and schools and the Parents Promise Education Initiative launched in September.

As for James’s ‘day job’ he has 20 years experience in marketing and PR and has worked ‘both sides of the fence’ as agency leader and client. In his spare time James is a keen runner, bourgeoning autism awareness activist and usually wrapped tightly around the fingers of his three little girls.

Key points of the episode:

• The Parents Promise. What is it?
• What happens when the relationship starts to slip.
• The damage that conflict between parents does to children.
• Family courts and their problems and biases.
• The problem with court orders.
• The "Mrs. Doubtfire" comparison.
• The complete blindspot in society about seperation and damage.

Reach out for more info:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hayhurst-59a5a15

https://theparentspromise.org.uk

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