A LEADING family charity has welcomed the launch of a new interactive tool to support tens of thousands of parents who choose to separate - but who don’t make headlines - in bringing up their children co-operatively.

The Parenting Plan is published by Cafcass, the government agency which supports children and young people in family courts, and follows pioneering work in recent years by National Family Mediation, the largest provider of family mediation services in England and Wales.

“Parental separation sometimes makes the front pages, but this updated Parenting Plan will help the tens of thousands of mums and dads who each year choose to live apart and don’t have the celebrity allure of Gwyneth and Chris,” says Jane Robey, Chief Executive of National Family Mediation.

“We are confident the new Parenting Plan will prove a useful resource to parents who separate each year to put their children's needs first.

“National Family Mediation practitioners have helped shape much of the thinking that's gone in to the Parenting Plan with our 30 years' experience of helping parents who live apart stay close to their children.”