What is it exactly that you do? ♦ Who do you work for? ♦ Who pays you? ♦ Aren’t you just another support group?
A few facts and brief explanations about the Forum, what we do and what we don’t do.
What do we do?
- promote parent voice through participation and co-production.
- run coffee mornings and events
- provide information and training to parent carers.
Are we just another support group?
Not in the traditional sense of what a support group is, we are a participation and co-production group (more about that later). However, as Parent Carers we do offer support where we can, and signpost to partner organisations where appropriate.
Who do we work for, who pays us?
- No-one! We represent parent carers but are entirely independent of any statutory organisation.
- We are all volunteers.
- We receive a grant from the DfE for participation/co-production work
- We apply for grants from other organisations in order to run things like Independence Day and Carers Week Lunch.
Can we support/advise parent carers with the EHCP process?
- No, we don’t have the legal training or capacity for this.
- We would always recommend the parent contacts the local SENDIASS service.
Are we a campaign group?
No, but we acknowledge the important role that campaign groups have in helping to get the parent voice heard. We are happy to work with campaign groups by providing them information and feeding back the issues they raise.
What is co-production & participation?
Parent carer participation is when parents and professionals work together, recognising each other’s expert knowledge, to design, develop and improve services for disabled children in the local area.
Contact (formerly Contact A Family) has some good resources around parent participation for anyone wanting more information on what this means. You can also visit HERE to see who we have participated with over the years.
Co-production – Parents & professionals working jointly together to develop, decide, design & do as equal partners.
Participation – Parents & professionals working in groups to decide what should happen to shape services.
Consultation – Parents are given options and the professionals decide what happens
Information – Parents Carers are provided with information from or about the service providers.
No engagement – Parents do not have a working relationship.
The infographic below with our aims for a charter can also be downloaded spcf coproduction_charter v1 .
