Category: Parent carer participation
Building relationships, reaching out to underrepresented communities and inclusivity training for SENCOs.
As the Department for Education’s delivery partner supporting strategic parent carer participation in England, we like to shout about the amazing work parent carer forums do every day across the country.
Firstly, congratulations to Blackburn with Darwen Parents in Partnership for their great work on their area’s Disability Information Day. This event brought together children and adults with local providers, such as the NHS and other voluntary services. The event helped the forum meet parent carers, increase their membership, promote their role, and build relationships with local partners.
A big thank you to Westminster Parents Participation Group, Brighton Parent Carers’ Council, and Swindon SEND Families Voice. They came together to share some of the ways they have reached out to their underrepresented communities. We recorded the session, which you can now watch it on our Youtube channel.
SEND Alliance Cumbria created some great videos to help with their recruitment and welcoming and supporting their volunteers as part of their induction.
And finally, congratulations to the forum in Liverpool Parents and Carers (LivPac). They have been nominated for a ‘National Diversity Award’ in the ‘community organisations for disability’ section. Find out more about these awards, nominate an organisation or cast a vote. If any other forums have also been nominated, please let us and other forums know.
Related information
For the first time ever, membership of parent carer forums across England has grown to over 110,000.
That’s over 110,000 parent carers working in co-production with strategic partners in education, health, social care and other organisations in 152 local authority areas.
What do parent carer forums do?
Forums make sure that local, regional, and national services best meet the needs of families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
They represent the voice and experiences of those receiving services. And they make sure that service providers take account of them when planning, designing, implementing, and reviewing services.
How does Contact support parent carer forums?
For14 years, Contact has worked with the Department for Education (DfE) to support the 152 forums in England.
We do this in a number of ways. We provide training and resources to forums, and we help them manage the DfE grants they are awarded to do the work they do.
Find out more about how Contact supports parent carer forums.
Useful resources from this year’s conference
Contact also supports the work of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) – the national umbrella organisation for PCFs.
This includes organising an annual national conference with the NNPCF, which this year was attended by over 285 forum members.
At the conference, forum members took part in a number of sessions on topics, like SEND law and planning the recovery in children’s community services.
Visit our participation YouTube channel to view some of the sessions that took place at this year’s conference. Some of the videos will be useful even if you’re not in a forum.
Read the latest parent participation annual report.
More about parent carer forums
Find your local parent carer forum on our website.
If you’re interested in joining – or just finding out how your local forum is working for you – get in touch!
The National Parent Carer Participation conference organised by Contact and the National Network for Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) kicks off today, Tuesday, 31 January.
The theme of the #LetsParticipate23 conference is Reconnection, Resilience & Renewal. It includes three virtual conference days followed by a face-to-face meet-up in Bristol at the end of February.
It’s an opportunity for parent carers from up to 152 parent carer forums across England to attend presentations and workshops. And it’s a chance to share challenges, ideas, and co-production opportunities.
The action-packed conference includes sessions led by NHS England to talk about the challenges families face accessing community-based services, like ADHD and paediatric services, in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. There will be an address from Claire Coutinho, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing).
Forums have risen to the challenge of the last few years
“This year’s conference is a true celebration of how forums continue to come together through the incredibly tough times we’ve seen recently. The impact of the pandemic is still felt by many families caring for a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). At the same time, the cost of living crisis has created even more stresses for families already struggling to get by.
“There’s no doubt that the last few years have tested the resilience of parent carer forums, their leaders and members alike. But forums have risen to the challenge, and despite everything there are now officially over 110,000 members involved in PCFs across England. As well as the opportunity to gain more knowledge and ideas and to share their experiences, the conference is a chance to celebrate everyone involved in parent carer forums. We’re really looking forward to reconnecting at what promises to be an engaging and informative few days.”
Carolyn Deveney, Head of Parent Carer Participation at Contact
Parent carer forums work locally with strategic partners colleagues in education, health, social care, and other local organisations. They work to ensure that services best meet the needs of families of children and young people with SEND. They represent the voice and experiences of those receiving services. And they make sure that service providers take account of them when planning, designing, implementing, and reviewing services.
The NNPCF is the national umbrella organisation of which all local forums are members. It represents the combined voice of local forums and regional forum networks. That’s over 110,000 parent carers involved in forums feeding in at Government level.
Tina Emery, co-chair of the NNPCF, said: “This is the 14th year that the NNPCF and Contact have worked together and with parent carer forums across England to amplify the experiences of those caring for a disabled child. It feels right that the theme for this year’s conference is Reconnection, Resilience & Renewal.
“The last few years have been so difficult. The effects of the pandemic are still being felt by families who care for a child with SEND. This makes the role of parent carer forums more important than ever.”
Contact’s support for Forums
Find out more about how Contact supports parent carer forums.
Find a parent carer forum near you.
Watch our videos about parent carer forums
Our video, ‘What is a parent carer forum and what do they do?’, explains more about parent carer forums, parent participation. It explains how parents across England are helping improve local and national services for children with SEND.
In the film ‘Making a difference: Why should I join my local parent carer forum?’, you’ll hear from parent carer forum members talking about why they got involved and the difference they make to children with SEND and their families.
