Derby’s Reform UK mayor plans haunted gaol stunt to raise money for ‘parental alienation’ charity

The Mayor of Derby says he is prepared to be locked in a haunted jail for however long the public decides in order to raise money for charity. Elected in May, Cllr Alan Graves of the Reform party (formerly the Brexit Party) has nominated Parental Alienation UK and the Derby-based Jericho Society as his selected charities – something every mayor does as part of their civic duty when inaugurated.

And after conversations with his committee, it’s a visit to Derby’s 17th-century gaol (pronounced “jail”) cells in Friar Gate which the mayor – who says he doesn’t believe in ghosts – believes will give him the best chance of collecting as many donations as possible. For every amount of money raised, Mr Graves says he’ll add a number of minutes onto his confinement.

The cash will be split equally between the two charities, but it is the former which is particularly close to Mr Graves’ heart. “Parental alienation” occurs when a parent prevents another from seeing their child and manipulates the child into disliking the estranged parent.

The mayor said: “Three years in a child’s life is massive. It’s not like going from 30 to 33. In three years your body changes and your mind changes. Your childhood is only a short time of your life. And parents are losing that. It just disappears. The family courts are, at the moment, a waste of time. It’s just an unfair system. We need a fair system.”

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Through learning of cases in the local community, Mr Graves decided it would be a great cause to support. He spoke of two cases in which the parents argued they had been wrongly blocked from seeing their child.

He said: “I know of a two-and-a-half year case in which there have been several court hearings and judgments ruling that the mother should give access to the father and she hasn’t done it. And nothing’s happening. There is another case where the mother is being blocked from seeing her son and she doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong but the family court is ruling against her.

“In some cases, where one parent is violent or dangerous, it’s completely understandable for the other to not want them to see the child. I’m very aware of that. Victims and children need protection. But there are thousands of parents out there that are being stopped from seeing their children through no fault of their own, but because of jealousy or spite.”

Mr Graves explained that as well as raising money, he hopes to give the plight of alienated parents more awareness across the region. Some parents themselves, he added, don’t even realise that charities exist to help them.

He said: “I think there are a lot of families and individual parents out there that don’t know what help they can get. These charities give advice to parents as to how they can go about getting access to their own children. I urge anyone interested to Google ‘parental alienation’ and you’ll find the charity online.

“If you haven’t got access to a computer, please write to me and I will send you the contact details of these organisations. You can also donate by contacting the Mayor’s Office now and once a date is organised for the jail event, there will be a further online link to donate.”

Derby Gaol, at 50 and 51 Friar Gate, is a museum in Derby that once housed prisoners in two underground cell blocks. The city council describes it as “one of the most haunted spots in the country” and it is run by former Most Haunted expert Richard Felix.

It operates ghost walks and occasional lock-ins at weekends. The mayor says he thinks it’s the perfect way to raise money.

He said: “I think a lot of people will want that. To keep me in the jail, I mean! If they donate enough for me to stay overnight, hopefully I can raise a lot of money and meet a few ghosts that frighten me to death. I am a bit concerned.”

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