Parent Voice
The Parent Voice service was established in summer 2009 with the aim of providing specialist information and enhancing participation for all parents and carers of children with disabilities in Hampshire.
As we enter 2010, the service is now fully up and running with staff in post and all Parent Voice premises open and available to access. There are three hubs running across Hampshire: these are located in Southampton (Western), Fareham (South East) and Basingstoke (North East). The hub local to Rose Road is the Western Hub, which is based at the Bradbury Centre and covers parents and carers in Test Valley, the New Forest, Eastleigh, Winchester and surrounding areas.
The Western Parent Voice team consists of Louise Clarke (programme co-ordinator), Lucy Fripp (information and events officer), Richard Uren, Sally Dace and Kate Gibbons (participation workers). You can contact the Parent Voice team by visiting the ‘about us’ section on the website or by viewing their individual contact details at the bottom of the page. The Information Officer can be contacted with any queries and the Participation Workers for home visits and ongoing individual issues such as referral to social services and DLA.
Work is currently underway on the Parent Voice website (www.parentvoice.info). At present, this website features a range of exciting and useful tools such as a discussion forum, signposts, news, events and more. In the near future, this will be expanded to include a classified section and the opportunity to participate in live ‘webchats’ with other parents, carers and professionals.
2009 saw the first flurry of Parent Voice events taking place across Hampshire, including a very successful coffee morning at the Bradbury Centre. All three hubs opened their premises for open days and coffee mornings to offer parents the chance to have a look around, meet the team and to start putting forward their ideas of what Parent Voice should focus on.
As the service continues to develop, there will be increased opportunity to have your say on local services and the way they are developed by participating in consultations providing feedback to influence the decision making process. This will be supported by a parent led Steering Group which will meet twice a month (evening and daytime meetings to suit parent availability) to closely monitor the progression of the service and to agree priorities for the local area. Please contact a member of the team if you would like to join the Parent Voice Steering Group or for more information. If you want to find out more about Parent Voice and what we can do for you there are a range of ways to get in contact. Firstly, you can reach the team directly via phone or email. You can also find a wide range of information online, including links to other support groups and sources of advice. Finally, you can ‘drop-in’ to the Bradbury Centre reception area where you can find a selection of leaflets, books and contacts.
To register to Parent Voice, you can contact any member of the team, register online or fill out the application form inside our leaflet.
- lucyfripp@roseroad.org.uk 02380 721206
- louiseclarke@roseroad.org.uk 02380 721209
- sallydace@roseroad.org.uk 07771 459148
- richarduren@roseroad.org.uk 02380 721206
- kategibbons@roseroad.org.uk 02380 721206
