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The human stories of how grand-parenting is being transformed in Wales.

As families live increasingly busy lives, Grandparents are increasingly on-call. It's a world away from grandparents of yester-year whose main role was the special relationship in their grand-children's lives. Now Grandparents are increasingly visible working hard to help their families, pushing prams around every town and village and on the school-run so that mothers and fathers can go to work. They are saving the family from racking up huge childcare bills and in some cases helping them afford a better home.

The modern age also brings overwhelming challenges for some grandparents, such as the worrying rise in drug misuse. In circumstances where parents become drug addicts and are unable to care for their children, Grandparents often step in to become the sole carers of grandchildren. Some have deep-rooted problems because of what they have been through. 71-year-old grandmother Lee and her disabled husband, put their life on hold for 25 years to become carers of their grandchildren. After Social Services intervened, Lee's grand-daughter Bailey, tells what it was like to be on the brink of being adopted before her grandparents came to the rescue.

As families become spread out across Wales and beyond in search of work and better opportunities, it can be hard for Grandparents to keep that special bond with their grandchildren. Some Grandparents, like Julie and Peter are planning their retirement so that they can maximise their time with their 5 young grandchildren and, ensure that the next generation grow up with the same sense of a close-knit family they've enjoyed.

The increase in relationship and marriage break-ups often leaves grandparents facing what one grandfather describes as 'like a bereavement', after a family member denied them access to their grandchildren who they haven't seen for over 6 years. For some grandparents in these circumstances where communication has broken down, they have little option other than to apply to the courts to get access to their grandchildren.

At a time in their lives when they'd envisaged slowing down, some Grandparents face extreme difficulties. Yet what's astonishing from these stories, is how Grandparents are indeed great! They reveal how they've risen to challenges of the modern world, how they've adapted, and how against the odds they remain a powerful force keeping families together, and continue to play that extra special role in their grandchildren's lives.

Producer: Chris Rushton

A Grittyproduction for Radio Wales.