About us

Our story

Medway Parents and Carers Forum was set up in 2009 by a small group of parents of children with a variety of disabilities, to fill the gap in Medway for a pan disability group. They realised that although their children’s diagnosis and needs may be different, they were meeting the same barriers to accessing services

By coming together and sharing their knowledge and experience, they could then work with those who provide services for disabled children and their families and share this information to help plan and improve the quality, range and accessibility of services for all disabled children and their families in Medway. Co-production creates a culture that ensures families are at the heart of policy that affects them whilst realistically creating the best possible outcomes with the resources available in Medway.

The Forum has continued to flourish and moved to its current home at Snapdragons Centre in 2018. As well as becoming a Charitably Incorporate Organisation (CIO) in 2019, the Forum celebrated its 10th birthday.

How we make a difference

Members of the forum work collectively for all families, respect each other’s views and make the best of one another’s skills and resources. We aim to provide opportunities for our families to influence the decisions that affect them and to contribute to developing positive outcomes that meet the needs of families.

Aims

  • To have a collective voice around common issues.
  • To work in partnership with services and support providers.
  • To raise awareness of issues faced by our children and young people.
  • To share experiences, knowledge and skills.
  • To give feedback
  • To ensure that future outcomes for our children and young people are good. 
What we can’t do

Is deal individual cases, we can only tackle issues that affect a number of families.