Get involved

PACC is a representative organisation.  Our strength is in the voice of the community we represent.  PACC supports and provides opportunities for the voice of Shropshire parent carers being heard at a local and national level.  There is clear evidence that the involvement of parent carers in the planning, delivery and review of services for children and young people with disabilities or additional needs improves the effectiveness of these services.   Getting involved does make a difference.  There are a number of ways that you can get involved.

Keep in touch with PACC:  When you join the PACC mailing list you will be asked for information about your family that will enable us to build up a picture of the Shropshire community of young people with disabilities or additional needs and their families.  This information is important in our discussion with service providers and commissioners and will help to identify the level of need and gaps in provision.  When you join the PACC mailing list you will receive regular updates from PACC about our work and opportunities to have a voice locally and nationally, as well as lots of useful information from the SEND world. 

By joining PACC's mailing list you can help improve services and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.  Just by sharing information about your family you help PACC to understand the needs of children and young people with SEND in Shropshire and inform our discussions with local decision makers.  If PACC is well supported by Shropshire parent carers then it is a clear statement that parent carers want to have a voice and to contribute to local and national decision making.

In return you will become part of a supportive community that understands your life.  You will receive regular information about issues that are important to your family, meet other parent carers and be invited to participate in events where you can have direct discussions with local services and decision makers.

There is no cost to subscribing to PACC's mailing list, we just ask that you share some basic information with us about your family and how we can contact you.  You will receive regular PACC updates by email keeping you up to date on our work, opportunities to get involved and other SEND news.  We provide a mix of information about participation opportunities, training events and social activities that are happening both locally and further afield.  If you do not use email, we can discuss how best to stay in touch with you and keep you informed.

PACC will ensure that any personal information that you share with us is kept securely and only use for the purposes that you have specifically agreed to.  More information about how PACC collects, stores and uses personal information is available on our Data information sheet here

Join the PACC mailing list by completing the subscription form and clicking on the SEND button. If at anytime you want to request the removal of your personal data from the PACC records you can do so by using the contact form on the 'Contact us' page of this website.

Thank you for your support!

“Really enjoyed reading your newsletter this weekend, especially Charlotte’s story, what an inspiring young lady and family.  We are very lucky to have PACC in Shropshire, and should do all we can to support the brilliant team who run things.  Many thanks to you all.”

Feedback from a PACC member

Follow PACC on Facebook and Twitter:

PACC is very active on Facebook because the majority of parent carers have told us that this is how they prefer to receive information.  We have a main page Shropshire Parent and Carer Council | Facebook through which we share a range of information, including details of any events that we are running.  We also have a number of closed chat groups, which are topic specific, these include PACC Post 16 Chat, PACC Autism Chat, PACC Early Years Chat and the PACC Forum.  You need to request to join these groups and answer a few questions to confirm that you are a Shropshire parent carer. By joining one of our Chat groups you will be able to ask questions or share feedback about your experiences.  Each group is covered by a set of rules which ask everyone to respect each others position and to not use the group to complain about individual practitioners.  PACC understands that we all need to share our frustrations with the system at times and we are here to listen, but if you have specific concerns about an individual practitioner you should use the relevant services complaint process, to raise those concerns.

PACC is also active on Twitter Shropshire PACC (@ShropsPACC) / Twitter

Become a PACC committee member or a parent carer representative: PACC is a parent carer led organisation and we rely on the support of parent carers for the planning and delivery of our services.  Most work is done on a voluntary basis but expenses are covered.   As a PACC committee member or representative you will be committed to representing a wide range of views and experience of families of children with disabilities or additional needs and to providing feedback to members on any work areas that you are involved in.  Training and support will be provided for all committee members and representatives.  Whenever possible we allocate two representatives to each work area to ensure diversity in experience and to provide support to each other.  Representatives often choose to get involved in work areas that are particularly relevant to their own family’s experience and you can become a parent carer representative at any point in the year.  PACC committee members are elected annually at the PACC AGM.  If you are interested in becoming a PACC committee member or parent carer representative contact us on 07398 120311 or by email enquiries@paccshropshire.org.uk   

Share your experiences and views: Participate in consultations and surveys.  PACC will regularly ask for your views on particular topics around disability and additional needs.  These consultations and surveys may be about local or national issues but it is always important to share your views.  These opportunities offer you the chance to influence the decisions that impact on your family and to improve services for all families of young people with disabilities or additional needs.  Sometimes consultations will take the form of paper or online questionnaires but there will also be opportunities offered by PACC for parent carers to discuss and explore individual issues at consultation, information and training events. Click here to see a list of current consultations, surveys and events. You can also approach PACC with any particular feedback you have on the services you use or feel would be beneficial to your family.  If you have been supported by a service that has been really beneficial to your family it is important to share that good practice, so that effective ways of working can be shared across services where appropriate.  If you have concerns about a service and you feel that improvements need to be made, PACC can support a dialogue with the organisation that funds and /or delivers the services, to discuss how a service can be improved.