Get Involved
Have Your Say - Opportunities for Parent Carer Engagement
Here you will find the latest opportunities to have your say as a parent carer.
NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Involvement Network Updates have been released and the forum has identified two key surveys which may be of interest to our SEND families of children and young people 11-25yrs.
Young People’s Health and Emotional Wellbeing Survey – Have your say – Healthwatch Worcestershire
Healthwatch Worcestershire wants to find out what people think about health and social care services. They will use this information to tell those who run the services how they can be improved.
They would like to hear the views and experiences of young people (age 13 to 25) in Worcestershire. In particular, they want to hear about their experiences of accessing help with their emotional wellbeing, as well as accessing support for issues around gender identity and/or neurodiversity.
The survey is anonymous and confidential – responses will be combined and used to create a report which will be publicly available on their website later this year.
Survey – The survey can be completed online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YP24live
Paper copies – Please contact Healthwatch Worcestershire for paper copies of the survey and prepaid reply envelopes – 01386 550264 / info@healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk
Printed copies of the survey can be returned using Freepost to – Freepost RTEE-GKAT-SRLR, Healthwatch Worcestershire, Civic Centre, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Pershore, Worcestershire, WR10 1PT.
Make your mark vote – Have your say – Worcestershire Youth Cabinet working with the British Youth Parliament
Worcestershire Youth Cabinet is asking for your help to give as many 11-18 year old Worcestershire young people the chance to have their say about the biggest issues facing young people.
Make Your Mark is a biannual consultation of 11 to 18 year olds run by the British Youth Parliament that aims to give young people a chance to have their say on what matters to them.
Each consultation has 10 broad themes for you to vote on. Worcester Youth Cabinet will be using the consultation to form their manifesto and what projects they work on to actively represent you. If you want to get involved with this after Make Your Mark and see how your vote makes an impact, you can join Worcestershire Youth Cabinet (see the attached, for more information).
Survey – To have your say, please complete the survey here: https://www.byc.org.uk/uk/uk-youth-parliament/make-your-mark
Voting for Make Your Mark is open until Friday 8 March 2024!
Building Together Through Co-Production Strategy – Have your Say – Adult Social Care, Worcestershire County Council
The Building Together Strategy will be a set of goals or priorities (things) that the Building Together Board want to make better/improve within Adult Social Care, with a step-by-step plan of actions/tasks to achieve them. It will include how Social Care and other professionals, people who use services and carers will work in equal partnerships towards defined shared goals and how the Board will engage with people who use services and their support networks to ensure they have a voice and a genuine sharing of power. The Building Together Board with the support of the Workforce Group have identified several areas where they believe Co-production would be beneficial to help improve services. Worcestershire County Council would like to get feedback from as many people as possible as to their thoughts regarding the priorities for the Building Together Strategy and would appreciate it if you could complete their short survey.
Survey – The survey can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/s0rLUhZbu8.
The deadline to complete the survey is Friday 23 February 2024.
More information – Please visit: https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/council-services/adult-social-care/get-involved-improve-our-adult-social-care-services/building-together-through-co-production
Membership
Being a member of FiP has lots of benefits: you can meet other parent carers, have access to information and events and use your experiences to really make a difference to children’s lives in Worcestershire.
You can be involved as little or as much as you like, and membership is free!
The forum is open to parent carers, family members (including grandparents), guardians and foster parents of children and young people who have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities 0-25 (no diagnosis needed). If you live in Worcestershire or access services from education, health or social care in Worcestershire, we would love you to join us.
We offer various levels of opportunity to become involved within the forum and the parent carer community. Please indicate on the membership form which level you are interested in volunteering your time for. There is no pressure or expectation, and we respect that first and foremost, your caring role is the most important use of your time. No matter how you contribute, as experts by experience your knowledge provides a valuable insight into the world of SEND and your voice could help other parent carers across the county.
Level 1 – access to all the information and resources from Families in Partnership and the opportunity to attend events and complete surveys. You will also receive regular information updating you on the Forum activities and achievements, and priority access to our events.
Level 2 – All the benefits of Level 1 plus the opportunity to meet other Parent Carers at groups and events in your local area and provide feedback to the Forum.
Level 3 – Become a Parent Representative and attend regular meetings around a particular topic of interest or expertise, reporting back to the Forum. Training and support is given to all Parent Representatives.
Level 4 – Join our Steering Group and help us reach more Parent Carers and shape Worcestershire’s strategy for children and younger people.
Complete our membership form by clicking the Join Us button. A member of the Families in Partnership team will be in touch to talk to you about the roles available and welcome you to the Forum.
