Family Champions

Being a Family Champion

• Are you a parent or carer of a child with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25 living in Essex?
• Do you want to be part of improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND?
• Could you share yours and others experience of living in the world of SEND

If you answer yes to the above, why not become one of our volunteer Family Champions?

What is a Family Champion?

A Family Champion is a parent/carer that shares their views and the view of those they represent whether, for example a support group or network, a group of friends or parents/carers from a school. You bring the voice of your families into the policy making process and have the opportunity to share the issues and challenges faced by families in your group/area. You will have the support of your Family Champion Quadrant Lead.

Benefits of being a Family Champion include:

• Making a vital contribution to the families in your group
• Opportunities to engage in projects of interest.
• A pack of resources to use when talking to families.
• A regular update of EFF news and other news/training/events from around the county.

As the Parent Carer Forum for Essex, we need to hear from as many families as possible so we can share a strong collective voice, represent your needs, and help improve services. Our aim is to make real, positive change for children and young people with SEND and their families. To do this, we need to hear regularly from parents about the challenges they face. Everyone involved in the forum is a parent or carer, and we know your time is precious.

We would love our Family Champions to be involved in all aspects of the role, but we also understand that family life and work commitments can make this difficult. Whatever you are able to do is genuinely appreciated and makes a difference — and the best part is that you can adapt your involvement to what works for you at the time.

If you would like to be involved a bit more then we also have some opportunities for Family Champions to work as Parent reps for EFF. These are as a self employed contractor and would involve more specific duties such as;

• Attending local support groups, events or coffee mornings to promote EFF and gather views.
• Taking part in steering groups, workstreams or meetings to represent families’ experiences on specific topics.

However you choose to be involved, your contribution helps ensure families’ voices are heard and drives positive change across Essex. For any queries on your current role as a family champion or to find out more information, contact the Family Champion Quadrant Lead for your area;

• Mid Essex – ruth@essexfamilyforum.org
• North East Essex – sarah@essexfamilyforum.org
• South Essex – carly@essexfamilyforum.org
• West Essex – stacey@essexfamilyforum.org