You are here: News Childcare and Education Minister, Sam Gyimah MP, launches Parent Champions Awards in Wandsworth
Sam Gyimah MP, Minister for Childcare and Education, and Member of Parliament for East Surrey, launched the inaugural Parent Champions Awards at the Enhanced Children’s Centre in Wandsworth.
The Parent Champions national network is a volunteer peer-to-peer support programme run by the Family and Childcare Trust. Wandsworth is one of 70 Parent Champions schemes across England helping vulnerable or hard-to-reach families access vital early learning opportunities and support.
The Parent Champions Awards aim to recognise the invaluable work of volunteers, co-ordinators, and schemes that have used creative ways to reach and support parents.
Launching the Parent Champions Awards, Minister for Childcare and Education, Sam Gyimah said:
“Parent Champion volunteers provide a valuable and essential support service. They help families, particularly those hardest to reach, to understand what local services are available and how they can access them. “It was great to visit the centre in Wandsworth and launch the Parent Champion Awards – a great way of recognising the hard work that these special individuals do.”
In Wandsworth, the Parent Champions scheme, which is managed by the council’s Family Information Service, has eight volunteers. Their focus has been to get families to sign-up to the Disabled Children’s Register, enabling these families to access the borough’s WAND ID card. The card reduces the need for families to carry additional documentation when out and about in the borough, making access to services much easier for families with disabled children. The WAND card also gives holders concessions or free entry to facilities within the borough.
Nominated Parent Champions schemes, co-ordinators and volunteers will be assessed by a panel of independent judges, and winners will be announced at the Parent Champions annual conference in March 2015.
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Notes to Editor
Contact: Mark Bou Mansour, Communications and Campaigns Manager. Telephone: 0207 940 7535, mobile: 07538 334 772, email: mark@familyandchildcaretrust.org.
About the Family and Childcare Trust
The Family and Childcare Trust aims to make the UK a better place for families. We are a leading national family charity in the field of policy, research and advocacy on childcare and family issues, with over 40 years’ experience. Our on-the-ground work with parents and providers informs our research and campaigns. We focus on the early years and childcare because they are crucial to boosting children’s outcomes throughout life and supporting parents to work.