Parents In Power
Social Inclusion
Reduce isolation and enable parents and carers of disabled children to come along and support each other in a supportive environment.
About this cause
We are small registered charity for parents/carers of a child, young person or adult (up to the age of 25) with additional support needs, learning difficulties or disability. We support parents/carers by ensuring they have a voice in how services in Gateshead are developed to give the best possible services for disabled children and their families. We do this through active parent participation and ensuring parents have a voice in local, regional and national consultations. We also provide training as and when parents need it. We can do referrals to Gateshead Foodbank and are a Community Contact Centre for Hate Crime.
How this cause brings people in the community together
Many parents tell us they feel isolated. So we would like to run a pilot and start a drop in facility initially once a week for parents/carers to come along and meet up and enjoy each others company. This will reduce the isolation they feel. We have volunteers who would be able to oversee this activity with staff and provide light refreshments with biscuits and cakes etc We would wildly advertise this throughout the borough, schools and community centres etc and during the project look at what help parents feel they need on a day to day basis to reduce isolation. It may be that they prefer a drop in session or a more formal support group. But ultimately this project will help us to determine which and enable us to have the evidence to take this further