How we support forums in England

We are the delivery partner of the Department for Education in supporting parent carer participation in England. 

Contact’s support for Parent Carer Forums 2026-2027 

At Contact we work in partnership with the NNPCF.  We support parent carer forums (PCFs) to be effective and sustainable.  This work is funded by the Department for Education (DfE).

From April 2026 until March 2027 Contact will offer the following support to PCFs:

• Administration of the Department for Education grant for PCFs, to enhance and develop parent carer participation in their local area. 
• Management of the DfE priority grant process (subject to funding) for PCFs with an urgent need.
• A comprehensive Parent Carer Forum Handbook, bringing together tools, templates, guidance, resources and videos to support PCFs to run effectively. We are committed to working together to improve the handbook, you can share your feedback here.
• A named Parent Carer Participation Adviser for every PCF.  Advisers support PCFs to run effectively and sustainably by providing clear advice and guidance on all aspects of running a PCF covered in the parent carer forum handbook, in line with the DfE grant conditions.  Find out more about how Advisers can help.
• Contact’s YouTube channel for PCFs shares practical tips, guidance, and real-life examples.  It includes a variety of videos to help run and develop your PCF.
• 8 new online learning sessions for PCFs on a range of topics.  Find out about new sessions, or see previous ones.
• 2 virtual training courses for PCFs, topics will be confirmed asap.  Options currently include, leading your forum, parent carer representative training, and DARE developing a resilience ethos.
• National Parent Carer Participation Conference in partnership with the NNPCF.  The Conference brings together PCFs and other partners to network and share information to continue to develop parent carer participation.
• CIC Employee Assistance Programme.  Every PCF has access to this programme for its leadership, volunteers and staff.  This includes access to a ‘well-being gateway.’ From the 21^st May. You can get the user name and password to access this programme from your Adviser.
• Support to develop a more inclusive culture within your PCF, helping to ensure a wide range of parent carer voices are represented.  2 Equality Diversity and Inclusion peer support sessions, and access to the Diversity and Inclusion toolkit for PCFs. 
• Annual report on strengthening the parent carer participation movement. 
• Community Matters Yorkshire.  PCFs can access 2 one-hour virtual meetings/phone calls with Community Matters Yorkshire for advice, or shorter calls and email support.  They can help with: Governance, legal structures, handling complaints and paying people.  They can provide some practical advice on HR and employment issues, however they are not legal experts or solicitors so in more complex situations they may advise you to take your own legal advice.  You can get in touch by emailing [email protected], stating your PCFs name, and the issue you need advice on. 
• Termly joint newsletter with the NNPCF, sign up here.
• Regular updates on Contact’s support offer, the DfE grant, and other updates relevant to PCFs, particularly partnership work with the NNPCF.
• In partnership with the NNPCF, we will work with PCFs strategic partners including the local authority and health agencies, around raising the profile of PCFs NNPCF and participation and co-production.
• A single point of Contact (soon to be confirmed) for PCFs facing changes due to local government re-organisation.  Working in partnership with the NNPCF, acting as a main point of contact for PCFs facing proposed changes to ensure their needs are understood and working together with them to make recommendations for support.

Enhanced support for PCFs facing challenges (free for PCFs, but limited)

• Contact Associate support where PCFs face challenges meeting the DfE grant requirements.  Contact Associate’s support provides short focussed/practical support to help PCFs address specific challenges.  The funding for this support is limited, but please contact your Adviser if you think your PCF needs additional support.
• Community Matters Yorkshire.  In some cases Contact may offer the PCF some support through Community Matters Yorkshire.

Paid for options

• Contact Associate support.  PCFs can pay for additional support from a Contact Associate.  Please note if you go directly to an Associate to arrange work between the Associate and the PCF, this relationship remains between you and the Associate, not Contact.

*There are some situations where we may require a PCF to pay for Contact Associate or other support/advice out of their DfE grant to enable them to meet the grant requirements.  If this applies to you, we will only do this in discussion with you, and we’ll communicate the requirements clearly in writing.

• Contact training offer.  Parent representative, leading your forum, and DARE: developing a resilience ethos are available to purchase. 

At Contact, we value the experience, expertise and insight of PCFs and the NNPCF.

We will offer payment when you work with us to help improve the offer for PCFs, and we are in the process of updating our policy on this.

Please email us if you have skills, practical tips, tools, or experiences that you could share to support other PCFs at [email protected].

How to feedback, and how we will respond.

• You can share feedback at any time by emailing [email protected]. This account is monitored by our Programme Officer and emails can be passed on to a manager/or someone not involved in providing direct support to your PCF if you request this.  You can also contacting a member of the team.  We will respond directly.

• We meet regularly with the NNPCF.  We listen for themes in feedback and work together on improvements and solutions.

• We will respond to feedback in a constructive way that supports good working relationships and continuous improvement.  Please do keep your feedback constructive and solution focussed – it helps us act on it effectively.

Other ways you can feedback

• Grant process: You can share feedback on the grant process and forms in the annual grant monitoring form. You can also send feedback at any time by emailing [email protected]. We respond to the annual feedback via a ‘you said, we did’ document. We will respond to other feedback directly.
• Parent Carer Forum Handbook:  Please feedback here.  We are committed to working in partnership with the NNPCF on new and updated guidance and information, and making regular updates based on your needs and feedback. Any substantive updates and opportunities to be involved will be emailed to all PCFs. 
• Adviser support: You will be able to feedback anonymously via a short survey link in their email signature.  This information will be reviewed by managers that don’t provide direct support to your PCF.  We’ll use this feedback to understand what works well and improve support.  As this is anonymous, if you want a response you will need to contact [email protected].  This account is monitored by our Programme Officer and emails can be passed on to a manager/or someone not involved in providing direct support to your PCF if you request this.
• The Conference, online learning sessions, and training sessions include anonymous surveys.  This directly shapes the planning and delivery of the next Conference and online learning and training.