Who we are:
Bolton Parent Carers is the designated Parent Carer Forum for the Bolton area. There is one parent carer forum in each Local Authority (LA) area which h, when endorsed by the LA, is able to become the Government funded forum for the area. The forum is supported by Contact, a charity for families who have children with disabilities. We work to represent parents and carers at a local level, whilst also working at a regional and national level via their national voice NNPCF.
Bolton Parent Carers is made up of parents of children and young people with SEND and are proud to have been the forum for Bolton since 2014.
What we do:
The SEND Code of Practice states
"Parent Carer Forums are representative local groups of parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities, who work alongside local authorities, education, health and other service providers to ensure the services they plan, commission, deliver and monitor meet the needs of children and families"
We do this by ensuring that we are listening to Bolton's parent/carers, hearing their experiences and representing these experiences at a strategic level locally. Where services are being developed or reviewed, the forum works, where possible, in genuine co-production with professionals; this means working with local SEND leaders as peers, with an equal voice around the table.
Bolton SEND Local Offer has been developed in co-production with Bolton Parent Carers. Visit their official website to find out more about the Bolton Parent Carer service.
Gathering parents and carers views and experiences
We aim to spend time with parents and carers to ensure we can hear their experiences. We do this via our workshops, focus group "How is Bolton doing?", social media, and also via surveys.
We work closely with Bolton Information Advisory Service with our events and to listen to parent carers experiences.
