The power of parent voice and experience

When thinking about designing programmes and services for families, we want to make sure these build on strengths and meet their needs and wants, and that we are connecting with families in a significant way.

Parent Voice is at the heart of our programmes at Coram Family and Childcare. When we developed the Parent Champions programme in 2007 to help marginalised or isolated parents who miss out on vital information about local family services, we wanted to use a parent-led approach to help break down barriers.

Parent Champions are parent volunteers who give a few hours a week to talk to other local parents about services available to families. The Parent Champions model is delivered by parents for parents, with the support of a local authority, children’s centre, school or local community organisation. Parents are in the driving seat on how Parent Champions is delivered, they decide how to get key messages out to families, and we trust their expertise on how to do this best.

While in the community talking to parents, Parent Champions are not only able to pass on information but also listen to the community and what is important to them. Many Parent Champions have shared this insight to their community to help improve services, including as part of parent panels, interview panels, and advisory boards.

Coram Family and Childcare have supported other organisations in projects that embrace parent voice, including working with a local authority to coproduce their early years strategy. During the project, Parent Representatives played an equal part in the early years strategy group, drawing on both their own and local families’ experiences. They gathered views and experiences of the local community, fed this back to the group, and decisions on the strategy were made together. A key part of the project is training for the both the parents and the staff to prepare them for the process.

We have seen the benefits of valuing parent voice and are passionate about coproduction and the impact it can have on families. Through our programmes at Coram Family and Childcare we have seen that this investment can improve collaboration between services and parents, helping parents’ voices to be heard and services to better meet their needs and wants.

Coproduction brings both professionals and families together, recognising the importance of experience in the design of services, promoting mutuality and reciprocity.  Some of the benefits include ensuring that the services are a better fit for the people that use them, making them accessible and responsive.  Coproduction can also benefit staff, providing opportunities to both develop a different outlook, by increasing their knowledge from those with lived experience, and widen their skill set.  Most importantly, it can increase empowerment within a community, increasing trust and engagement with services.

Involving families using a meaningful approach and valuing their experience can be instrumental in shaping services.  As we start coproduction week, we would like to celebrate the parents who are generously using their expertise by experience to help build the strength of their community.

If you would like to share your work and ideas or are interested in Parent Champions or our coproduction work, please do get in touch at info@coramfamilyandchildcare.org.uk.