Parent Carer Council Shropshire (PACC)

Shropshire's Parent Carer Forum (PACC)

Our vision is to help make Shropshire a great place for SEND families to thrive and have the same opportunities as everyone else. We'll listen to our community and bring people together to create a more powerful voice to inform and influence change. We promise to champion your voice.

We do this by focusing on three key work areas:

  • Influence and change
  • Information provision
  • Community support

Our commitment to our community is to empower parent carers to influence change in local systems and services by sharing their experiences, to inform families to support them to make aspirational decisions for their children, and to create a supportive community within which our families can thrive.

Influence and change

We aim to empower our SEND parent carer community to be heard and to influence change through sharing its experiences. We champion parent carers' voices to inform and influence system change. We represent the SEND community to support local services to makes changes to improve families’ lives. We ask parent carers to share their experiences with us so that we understand the variety of experiences across our community. We may do this via surveys, meetings, online forums, workshops, and events. We aim to drive aspirational outcomes and change throughout Shropshire. We deliver independent representation, create reports, data, and reflections based on real life experiences of families across Shropshire. You can find out more on the PACC website.

Information provision

We aim to empower our SEND parent carer community to be informed with accurate and appropriate information. We provide information and signposting that supports families to make informed decisions about the care they and their family receive. We offer regular communications about new opportunities and changes in the SEND system. We host focused events and opportunities to discuss and learn more about key topics and priorities across our community. These include inviting system leaders, practitioners, and guest speakers to meet directly with parent carers. We share information, resources, and updates from local services and our community partners to help SEND parent carers to remain informed about opportunities in their local area. You can find out more on the PACC website.

Community support

We aim to empower our SEND community to be better connected, reducing isolation and improving family life. We facilitate a community network to share information and get support. This is delivered through our multiple social media networks and the community opportunities we host. Our networks are supported by caring and experienced parent carers who, like you, are navigating the SEND system with their own families. You can find out more here on the PACC website.

We provide a variety of support offers:

  • Community Navigator Service
  • Activity coordination
  • Term-Time activity programme- Buddies and Buddies Jnr community groups
    • Healthy Lives Holiday Programme
    • Learning and information sessions
  • Healthy Parent Programme
     

Our parent carer community is empowered to participate in opportunities that foster friendships, create connections, and reduce isolation.