1. Engaging the Seldom Heard: learning through shared experiences
A Contact webinar presented by Kulwinder Bola Chair of Luton Forum and the East of England region
23rd March 2018

2. Welcome! Welcome to this Contact webinar.
If there is a technical hitch, please do bear with us.
Those of you joining by pc, laptop, tablet or smart phone should now be able to see this introduction slide.

3. Timing and Questions
As there are so many attendees, it is not practical for verbal questions to be taken, therefore you will all remain ‘muted’ throughout
If at any point you have questions, please use the question icon on your GoToWebinar tool bar on your screen, this will allow you to type your question in to the text box and submit this to the Webinar administrator
I will select as many relevant questions to answer as time allows, if similar questions are received I will condense these where possible

4. Q&A Session
Further relevant questions, not covered in the time allowed, will be answered and posted on the Contact a Family website along with the recording of this Webinar, details of which will be circulated next week
At the end of the Webinar a short questionnaire will launch, please take the time to complete this as this will assist with future online training events

5. Today we will aim to:
Share what we know to enable Peer to Peer support
Highlight why reaching out can sometimes be complex
Recognise we have limitations
Pledge one change to enable us to reach further

6. Who are the Seldom Heard?

7. The NHS identifies this group as:
“groups of people who don’t have a collective voice and are often under-represented in consultation and involvement activities” e.g. Home schooled.
“groups who find it difficult to overcome barriers and engage in consultation”
NOTE – Some organisations (e.g. NNPCF and Contact) use the term ‘Hard to Reach’ based on Family Fund descriptors

8. Factors contributing to parent carers feeling they’re Seldom Heard
Being judged
Unfriendly
not listened to
non-committed gate keepers
poor-communicators
little understanding of the issue
service users-not having a user-centred approach

9. What groups make up those described as Seldom Heard?
All of Us!

10. Often - we feel self-conscious and worry about causing offence...
WHY are some groups so difficult to access?
Often - we feel self-conscious and worry about causing offence...

11. HOW to gain access… LA Community Engagement Team Engagement Officer(s)
Seldom Heard Group
Forum

12. The key is to establish sustainable links…
Personal Safety is paramount – we are not cold callers and don’t want to be knocking on doors…
The key is to establish sustainable links…
Forum Forum
SHG Professional SHG Community
Leader

13. WHY it is important to reach out
Enable families to access services - means they can better care for their children
Parent Carers have the ability to see the needs of other families holistically
Professionals are limited by there specialist - so are limited to signposting to what they know
Our families often use a whole range of services and therefore are experts by experience across a range of provision

14. WHY does this matter?
Aim to enable Equity of service for all at the point of access
We need accurate data on our reach
Reaching out helps to identify gaps in your forum membership
Linking families together - empowers all.
It makes your Forum more representative of the local area, raises your forums’ profile and Health will want seek you out for co-production work with regards to commissioning

15. Luton PCF we have been collecting Diversity Data since 2014
Seldom heard groups LPCF
BAME data – we have data on a range of British Black & Asian parent carers
We are moving into collecting more data on Eastern European – Polish families
No data on families with LAC and SEND

16. Collecting and Using Diversity Data
Our own ways of collecting data
Is it meaningful data?
How will you use?
If you collect it but not use it…
Think Data protection and compliance and Consent to keep the data

17. How Luton PCF uses its data

19. What faith am I linked to?
Early Christianity
Jainism
Hinduism
Jewish
Sikh
Islam
Buddhist

20. What do we... see Educated Young western woman Professional
Single, Independent

21. A mother of a child with needs
Looking beyond, to really see...
Daughter
(in-law)
A wife
A mother
A mother of a child with needs

22. As People we are complex

23. How to access different communities?

24. Places of Worship basic Etiquette
If going direct
The web link below provides a range of do’s and don'ts
In summary:
Make an appointments to visit
Dress to cover your figure – (lose fitting long sleeves and high neck tops with long skits/ trousers)
Be prepared to cover your head and remove your shoes
Don’t be taken aback if the person showing you around doesn’t make full eye contact when speaking to you, in most Eastern cultures it is rude to look at unrelated female face on for any length of time.
By visiting you’re getting an understanding, and gaining confidence – Why not give it a go!

26. Thank you! Thank you for attending with us today.
A short questionnaire will launch at the end of this webinar.
Please take the time to complete this as it will help us plan future events.
The recording of this webinar and presentation will be available on Contact’s website in the next two weeks. Look out for news about this on our homepage and social media networks.