MembershipWhy and how to collect and safeguard wider forum membership information. Building a forum membership We use the term members to refer to the wider group of parent carers involved in your forum outside of the steering group/trustees/directors. To see how your forum structure may define your membership there is more information in the Deciding on a structure section. forums’ membership should be open to parent carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with any special educational need, disability or additional need. Some forums only include parent carers who live in the area. Others include those whose child receives service in the area or practitioners who work in the area. The forum’s steering group needs to make a decision about what will work best in your area and it may be an idea to talk to neighbouring forums to find out how they define their membership. More detailed information about ways to increase awareness of the forum and grow the forum’s membership can be found in the section on communication and gathering the parent carer voice. Social media Some forums set up a social media group/page to communicate with parent carers and local groups. Some forums don’t have a membership database and only use social media to connect with parent carers in their area. Parent carers can follow or like the forum’s page. This is different to having a membership. Followers of forum pages usually have to sign up to the forums rules and to the social media companies rules. Social media organisations such as Facebook and Instagram have their own privacy notices that people sign up to. Forums don’t have access to people’s personal data unless they use their own name as their username. Followers don’t have voting rights at the forums Annual General Meeting (AGM) and can’t propose resolutions unless they are also members of the forum. The policies and procedures page contains an adaptable social media policy template. Your forum might develop a membership database to: Communicate directly with parent carers about forum activity and how parent carers can become involved further Inform and empower parent carers Share feedback from the forums’ strategic work to show members the impact of sharing their views. Provide evidence to local authority and other partners of the collective key issues impacting on families and give them statistical information about who the forum is reaching. Build credibility with the forums strategic partners Identify gaps in the forums membership whether that’s by geographical area, ethnicity, gender, child’s disability or additional need etc. Hear the views and experiences of a wide range of families to build a picture of what’s working well and the issues that you need to work on. If your forum is thinking about collecting data read about how to do this on our GDPR page. Different types of forum membership Details of different types of membership are usually outlined in the forums governing document along with the powers that members have. This will also depend on your legal structure. Types of membership can include: Full membership with voting rights for parent carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with SEND. Associate membership for representatives of organisations who support the forums aims – there are usually no voting rights for this type of membership. Affiliate membership for members of the public who support the forums aims – again with no voting rights. The additional powers for members can include some or all of the following: Voting rights at the forums Annual General meeting (AGM) Standing as a steering group member/trustee/Director at the AGM Voting in new steering group members/trustees or Directors Submitting special resolutions for consideration by members Calling special meetings For Community Interest Companies they may be able to vote out Directors or vote for Directors to stop taking particular action or to take specific action within certain boundaries. Forum steering groups need to think carefully about the types of membership they’ll offer for their forum and it is sensible to take some advice from Community Matters or your local voluntary sector organisation to help with this. Your Contact adviser can signpost you. 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. Deciding on a structure Find out more about different forum structures Legal structures General Data Protection Regulation and Privacy Find out more about holding your data in the right way General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Privacy Policies and Procedures Find example templates here Policies and Procedures Communication and gathering the parent carer voice Find out more about gathering voice Communication and gathering the parent carer voice Community Matters Find out more about support from Community Matters Community Matters Contact adviser Find out more about your named Contact adviser Contact Parent Carer Participation Advisers ShareCopy URLCopied!Share via EmailShare via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via WhatsAppShare via LinkedIn
Social media Some forums set up a social media group/page to communicate with parent carers and local groups. Some forums don’t have a membership database and only use social media to connect with parent carers in their area. Parent carers can follow or like the forum’s page. This is different to having a membership. Followers of forum pages usually have to sign up to the forums rules and to the social media companies rules. Social media organisations such as Facebook and Instagram have their own privacy notices that people sign up to. Forums don’t have access to people’s personal data unless they use their own name as their username. Followers don’t have voting rights at the forums Annual General Meeting (AGM) and can’t propose resolutions unless they are also members of the forum. The policies and procedures page contains an adaptable social media policy template.
Social media Some forums set up a social media group/page to communicate with parent carers and local groups. Some forums don’t have a membership database and only use social media to connect with parent carers in their area. Parent carers can follow or like the forum’s page. This is different to having a membership. Followers of forum pages usually have to sign up to the forums rules and to the social media companies rules. Social media organisations such as Facebook and Instagram have their own privacy notices that people sign up to. Forums don’t have access to people’s personal data unless they use their own name as their username. Followers don’t have voting rights at the forums Annual General Meeting (AGM) and can’t propose resolutions unless they are also members of the forum. The policies and procedures page contains an adaptable social media policy template.
Your forum might develop a membership database to: Communicate directly with parent carers about forum activity and how parent carers can become involved further Inform and empower parent carers Share feedback from the forums’ strategic work to show members the impact of sharing their views. Provide evidence to local authority and other partners of the collective key issues impacting on families and give them statistical information about who the forum is reaching. Build credibility with the forums strategic partners Identify gaps in the forums membership whether that’s by geographical area, ethnicity, gender, child’s disability or additional need etc. Hear the views and experiences of a wide range of families to build a picture of what’s working well and the issues that you need to work on. If your forum is thinking about collecting data read about how to do this on our GDPR page.
Your forum might develop a membership database to: Communicate directly with parent carers about forum activity and how parent carers can become involved further Inform and empower parent carers Share feedback from the forums’ strategic work to show members the impact of sharing their views. Provide evidence to local authority and other partners of the collective key issues impacting on families and give them statistical information about who the forum is reaching. Build credibility with the forums strategic partners Identify gaps in the forums membership whether that’s by geographical area, ethnicity, gender, child’s disability or additional need etc. Hear the views and experiences of a wide range of families to build a picture of what’s working well and the issues that you need to work on. If your forum is thinking about collecting data read about how to do this on our GDPR page.
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