What is the Coventry Parent Voice network?
The Coventry Parent Voice members are made up of mums, dads and carers from all over the city, working collectively to co-design and improve services for children, young people and their families.
By listening to your experiences and working together, we can shape the offer and help make the biggest impact for families in the first 1,001 days of a child’s life.
Our vision is to continue to strengthen the voice of families to ensure your feedback is heard and your views inform the services on offer at a wide range of places across Coventry.
We want to build a community of parents and carers who develop and share key messages and information in local communities and beyond.
Why should I join?
By becoming a member, you will be invited to share your views and talk to professionals about the services on offer. You will share information and key messages on Start for Life and Family Hubs with other families.
How do I join?
All we need is your email address and phone number, plus your name and area of the city you live in. We particularly want more dads and parents representing the diversity of Coventry families.
Is it free?
Yes, we will never ask anything of you other than your time and your expenses will be reimbursed.
What is involved?
You can choose to receive surveys, updates and be a remote member, or you can attend meetings and become more involved.
What impact have we made so far?
To date we have changed some groups to run all year round, we have helped design the Start for Life brochure and we are supporting the recruitment of new staff. We have even bigger ambitions!
What value do we bring?
We feel appreciated and encouraged to share our views, we have access to training and
get to meet lots of professionals from different areas. We can make real changes to help other families.
Get involved
To become part of the Coventry Parent Voice network and help to shape family services in Coventry, please email parentvoice@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:parentvoice@coventry.gov.uk] or complete the expression of interest form [https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Zfr8cUYHyE6bFq2S-y3hAgDQwDP0J5NNlLa-s4SQZZFUMkVNUE1FRlpJRFZYNTY3V1dJWU9XN0FDUS4u].
Parent Voice Impact
Parent Voice
The Coventry Parent Voice Network supports families in Coventry across all ages and stages of family life, and it serves to amplify parents’ voices to enhance services and ensure they meet diverse family needs. Through engagement, feedback, and partnerships, the network empowers parents, to inform the design, delivery and evaluation of services.
The network provides a platform for parents to voice concerns and influence decisions. It promotes collaboration with service providers and local organisations, ensuring diverse voices, particularly from marginalised communities, are heard. Of the 326 members (and growing daily) the Parent Voice Network includes 117 parents and carers from black and ethnic minority backgrounds and 82 fathers are also engaging in the network. To achieve this, the Coventry Parent Voice Network organises focus groups, surveys, and workshops, and implements feedback mechanisms, and raises awareness of the wide range of services available to families who are not yet accessing the Family Hub offer.
With 326 members, the network holds physical and digital meetings, ensuring accessibility and prioritises inclusion by providing translated materials and multilingual engagement. All contributions are influencing change and are fed back to policy makers and service providers across the Family Hub partnership. A member of the Network attends the Early Help Strategic Partnership group.
A key achievement is the Family Hub surveys which help us to understand the experiences of families accessing the Family Hub offer.
- 98% of families reported satisfaction
- 95% feel a strong sense of community
Connor's story
"My name is Connor Morgan, and I am a single father to three wonderful children. I reached out to the fantastic staff in the Coventry Family Hubs. They invited me to participate in a 10-week Nurture Programme, which not only provides me with valuable insights but also significantly boosted my confidence as a father.
"Through this course, I met a kind lady who introduced me to the Parent Voice Network, where I could share my experiences to support others. This connection eventually led me to become a Parent Champion within the network. With new found confidence, I have since completed around two dozen courses and even enrolled at a university to study social work.
"None of this would have been possible without the respect, knowledge, and confidence I gained through my involvement with Coventry’s Family Hubs. They continue to inspire me every day, fuelling my desire to help others and be the best father I can be to my children."