Community Matters provides support to not for profit community organisations across the UK.
From April 2026 until March 2027 Contact’s will offer the following Community Matters support to PCFs:
Parent Carer Forums (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
- 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 forum’s name, and the issue you need advice on.
Enhanced support for PCFs facing challenges (free for PCFs, but limited)
In some cases Contact may offer the PCF some support through Community Matters Yorkshire. You will need to speak to your Contact adviser about this support offer.
Paid for options
Community Matters forms part of Contact’s 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.
Community Matters also have a particular expertise in supporting organisations managing community buildings and some forums may find this useful. Community Matters also offer a range of training options which forums may want to purchase. Forums can get the information on how to access this from their Contact Adviser.
Last Updated: April 2026
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The Community Matters vision is to provide a sustainable and effective ‘hub’ of learning, support, advice and guidance, enabling local communities and organisations to grow and achieve through the provision of a high quality service.
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