Who are we?

The Richmond Parent Carers Action Group (RPCAG) is an independent forum, set up in the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames by parents of children with additional needs, in order to help influence the development of services provided by the Local Authority for their children.

What do we do?

Our aim is to provide parents and carers with an opportunity to support each other and generate new ideas around improving services for our disabled children. We meet monthly in term time (usually at 10am on a Friday morning with the support of Me Too & Co) at the Crossway Centre in St Margaret’s. We ensure we have representation at important meetings in the Borough and regularly invite officers to come and answer questions. We need your views; and by joining us you can help influence the development of Services provided by the Local Authority for your child(ren) with additional needs.

Join us now!

Who can join?

RPCAG is open to all carers of children aged 0-19 who have any kind of disability (physical, learning, communication, behavioural, sensory and rare disorders) as well as children with health conditions which mean they have additional care needs. Members must live in the Borough of Richmond-Upon-Thames.

We will work with existing groups although we cannot take on any individual issues; but we will need to know if there are patterns of problems or particular problems for particular groups of disabled children.

To join us check the contacts page or email us.

You are welcome join our E-Forum to get involved with our campaigns. There you can post views and ask questions on issues affecting your child. You can also check out feedback from the various meetings we attend. Minutes of meetings are posted here (and circulated by email).

Emails are also regularly sent to Group members, other parents of children with additional needs, relevant local Voluntary Organisations, SEN professionals, Council Officers and Councillors.

Training

Our members receive extensive training on the following subjects:

• Disability Equality Training
• How to be an effective Parent Representative
• E-Forum training

Background

In May 2007, the UK Government published a report entitled Aiming High for Disabled Children: better support for families (AHDC) which was the culmination of their extensive Disabled Children Review. It describes a programme to transform services for disabled children, with substantial new funding and measures designed to make the system work better. The long-term goal is to transform the life chances of disabled children and is closely linked to the Every Child Matters programme.

In the report the Government states that the AHDC programme aims to deliver:

• Access and empowerment for disabled children and families
• Responsive services and timely support
• Improved service quality and capacity.

One of the corner-stones of the policy is to encourage (and provide funding for) the formation of parent forums across the country to give parents of disabled children a voice in local empowerment mechanisms, foster better relationships between service providers and parents, and allow parents to contribute their expertise to help shape services.

As a result of this major advance in government policy, with facilitation by Contact a Family we established the RPCAG in 2007 to represent the views of parents at strategy meetings in Richmond. We are affiliated to Me Too & Co – a Richmond charity helping families with a child with additional needs – which supports us with their office, facilities and expertise.