Look out for Parent Champion Volunteers, now working in the community, who are part of the Family Information Service team’s new volunteer initiative, in collaboration with the charity Coram.
Five Parent Champions started with us at the beginning of the year. In addition, there are nine new volunteers this term, including some volunteers leading at Family Hubs, Early Years Nurture Groups (SEND support), and SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service), as well as in the community. Parent Champions give 2-5 hours of their time each week, to provide information and signpost about family services, childcare, and the SEND/Local offer.
They also promote the Early Years team, Family Information Service, Family Hubs, the HAF (Holiday, Activities and Food Programme) programme and SENDIASS, when they talk to families at a range of places from local parks, stay and play groups, library activities, school fairs, family hubs and community events.
The Parent Champion scheme is currently run by Coram Family and Childcare, a leading national charity, leading on childcare and family issues, to help families who would otherwise miss out on information about childcare, early learning and local services.
As of 2024, there were 353 parent champion volunteers, working across 41 programme locations across the country. If you would like to give back to your community, have 2-5 hours to spare a week and are a parent/grandparent, please contact the Family Information Service via email on: FIS@slough.gov.uk or call 01753 476589 for an initial chat.
Some feedback from two of our new volunteers after completing their recent training:
“First of all, thank you so much for giving me this chance and it makes me feel good to help out the community. I really enjoyed both sessions and it was really useful. Thank you.”
“It’s an extremely useful course and the instructors are friendly, professional and answered all the queries.”
Councillor Puja Bedi, cabinet member for children and lifelong learning said: “Becoming a Parent Champion Volunteer is a fantastic way to give back to the community and in turn meet new people and discover more about our local area. I am so pleased that nine new volunteers have been trained and started this term ready to help and inform other local parents. Together we can improve the lives of families and children across the borough.”