About the Lion Mothers

Løvemammaene is a diagnosis-independent organization that works to educate and improve the rights of children and young people with chronic illnesses and various needs. We are passionate about support, freedom and equality for the entire family.

About the Lion Mothers

«Lion mothers,» we were called. We were a group of mothers who roared in protest against some of the Solberg government’s disastrous changes to the care allowance scheme. Lion mothers, because we sharpened our claws, fought for our children and didn’t give up until we won. All parents have probably felt like lions sometimes, whether they are mothers or fathers. However, we who are parents of children and young people with illnesses and disabilities have to take on the lion’s claws even more often. In the wake of the care allowance campaign’s first autumn, the Snapchat channel Løvemammaene was born. Here, a group of regular snappers talk about life with chronically ill children and young people. The channel has quickly become very popular, and today has close to 100,000 followers.

One year after the care allowance action was launched, we continued the fight for a fair care allowance scheme. The campaign was so successful that we were mentioned in the book Jakta på makta by Bård Vegar Solhjell and Ketil Raknes: "...the mothers who became lobbyists did most of the right things (...) They had a clear goal and a strategy. They based themselves on facts and knowledge and put their arguments into a societal perspective. They set the agenda in the media and acquired ambassadors." At New Year 2018, Audun Lysbakken named the care money action and Løvemammaene the name of the year.

The success of the care money campaign and the enormous interest around the Snapchat channel made us get blood on our teeth. There were so many more battles to fight for the rights of our children and young people. We had gained a lot of experience, and we were ready to put our knowledge into a system: On February 21, 2019, we founded the organization Løvemammaene.

During the time we have existed, we have been active in the media, in meetings with politicians and organizations. We have used our strongest channel of influence – social media. We have achieved several successes in the care allowance case, secured the right to retain assistance benefits during long-term hospital stays, NOK 30 million in earmarked funds for children's palliative teams throughout the country, and that all anesthetic and bandage materials should be free for children under 16 years of age. We have also put other issues on the agenda, such as BPA for children and the need for health care in BPA, the right to a language and the need to incorporate ASK in the Language Act, we have worked to remove the age limit for companion certificates in all municipalities in the country, reduce the use of force against children in the health care system, and not least, we have put the spotlight on the lack of legal certainty for children and young people with chronic/serious illnesses and various needs for help in Norway. On the eve of 2025, the breakthrough that many interest groups – including the Lion Mothers – have been fighting for and waiting for finally came; the CRPD (the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) was incorporated into Norwegian law.

In 2021, we started both our children's palliation project Carry Together and in 2022 we started a pilot project called The lion mothers' help service. Carry Together assists our members who have children with life-threatening illnesses and/or a shortened life expectancy. Bære Sammen functions both as an outpatient team for these families, and in the period 2022-2024 as an integrated part of the support service. In addition, Bære Sammen reaches out to politicians and professional circles, participates in research projects and gives lectures. Bære Sammen is still an active project to this day, thanks to support from the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

The Lion Mothers' Help Service was a very important and indispensable service for our members, who unfortunately did not receive support for further operations after the end of the project period on 31.12.24. This was a service that provided support, guidance and assistance to our member families. This could be as a support person in meetings with the help system, help with writing applications and complaints, alternative expert assessments, and mapping of needs and rights, etc. During the project period, we helped a total of 2072 member families. Everyone who was employed in the help service had both personal experience as lion parents and the necessary professional expertise. You can read more about the Lion Mothers' Help Service here.

During 2022 and 2023, we founded 5 regional teams: North, Mid, West, South and East. The regional teams are very important to the organization and cover Norway from the North Cape to Lindesnes, and can be found in several small and large towns and cities. Here they create a number of great local offers for members, including parent meetings, help cafés, family meetings, sibling meetings and trips & therapy. They also participate in local user committees and councils, are visible in local newspapers, and get involved and influence interest politics in municipalities and counties in their region. Here you can read more about the regional teams ours.

In addition to the many great events that our regional clubs organize, Løvemammaene holds a number of informative and useful webinars on rights and relevant topics for our members on a monthly basis. This is an important part of our membership offering, because it is about giving parents the necessary knowledge and thus equipping them for the future, and what for many will be a long life in the support system.

We hope this gave you a little insight into who the Lion Mothers are and what we work on.

You can get in touch with us at the central board here.

Regards, central board