Forums are made up of many different people. Some are run entirely by volunteers. Others have a mix of volunteers, paid staff and self-employed people.
However your forum is set up, everyone working for you should have access to support to ensure that they feel valued and able to thrive.
For individual rights and responsibilities you can look at the pages managing volunteers and managing staff and self-employed people. We also have information on how to support each other in the forum.
If you manage people in your forum, there’s extra support available to help you look after your own wellbeing and support your team.
CIC assistance offers:
- Well Online – Managers: A helpful resource with tips and tools for managers
- Managerial Adviceline: A confidential advice line just for managers
To use these services, please contact your contact adviser for login details.
CIC assistance provides:
- A confidential support line for forums
- Access to counselling for steering group members and forum leaders
To use these services, please contact your contact adviser for login details.
Everyone works differently, and some people may need changes to help them take part fully. These are called reasonable adjustments.
Making small changes can help remove barriers, support different needs, and make sure everyone has a fair chance to contribute.
Resources and guidance:
- Gov.uk – Reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities or health conditions – GOV.UK
- ACAS – Reasonable adjustments at work
- National Autistic Society – Asking for reasonable adjustments
You can watch our online learning session (below) and look at the resource page created by Contact associate Lucy Smith. This includes interviews with EPIC Luton and Bath and North Somerset parent carer forums. View the resources page here.
Inclusive Forums Supporting Neurodivergent Staff & Members
Do you have any thoughts about this page? Visit our How to feedback page to share them.
Looking for something else? You can find a full list of pages on our Parent carer forum handbook contents page.
Find out more here
CIC Assistance Programme
The CIC assistance programme is designed to help forums to carry out their role while maintaining their wellbeing.
Read more
Contact Parent Carer Participation Advisers
Parent Carer Participation Adviser's support the forum and provide a sounding board for the forum leadership. Find your forum's named adviser here.
Read more
Support for forums
Find out more about all the different support available for forums.
Read more