What we do - Have your say! - Other local and national surveys and consultations

See below for other local and national surveys, consultations, petitions, etc. you might like to take part in.

What do you think about a ‘Brew and Banter Carer Café’?

Carer Support Wiltshire would like to open a Brew and Banter Carer Café at MOD Lyneham Community Centre. They would like as many people from the Armed Forces Community to complete a survey to inform decisions about developing this opportunity. This group would be held in the MOD Lyneham Community Centre and led by a trained volunteer, who can offer advice and support over a cuppa and a piece of cake.

Carer Support Wiltshire will also be attending the MOD Lyneham Coffee Morning on Thursday 25th July 2024 between 9:00am and 11:00am (MOD Lyneham Community Centre, SN15 4XX) for anyone who would rather complete the survey or discuss what can be offered to them in person.

To have your say, please click [HERE].

The deadline for responses is Saturday 31st August 2024.

Parents'/Carers' Expectations Versus Reality Of The Transition From Mainstream School To Special School

An opportunity to share your views on why parents and carers choose special schools and the realities of attending special schools. This research is part of a postgraduate dissertation project being carried out by Sarah Magill.

What will the research entail?
One interview lasting 35 to 45 minutes. This will take place at a time that is convenient to you.

Please see poster below for details on how to get involved.

Contact's SEND Transport Project

SEND Transport can be a really challenging issue with many local authorities tightening their offer and more families being denied this vital support.

Contact have launched a new SEND Transport Project that aims to highlight the issues and bring about change that will improve disabled children and young people's experience of school/college transport. [Channel 4 News highlights school transport issues for disabled young people (contact.org.uk)]

Part of this project involves looking at local transport policies to see how easy they are to understand and where they might contain unlawful statements that are misleading to both parents and LA staff. The results will form part of a campaign, helping to make recommendations to try and improve things. As Parent Carer Forums you will know a lot about how transport is working in your area.


What you need to do:-
1. Answer some questions about your local area Compulsory School Age Transport Policy. You will need to find your policy online and look through it, answering 6 main questions with a YES/NO checklist for each question. It should take approx 30 minutes.

2. Fill in a short survey about how you think things are going with school/college transport in your area. Just a few questions so that you can tell us what is happening in your area – are parents happy or dissatisfied? Are there charges for Post-16 transport? This should take less than 30 minutes too.


Get in touch:-
The experience and expertise of parent carer forums and all the work done to represent the issues for families in your area – so it would be great to hear from you. Please get in touch at rachel.dixon@contact.org.uk

Young Pioneer Picnic In The Park Session

Where: Hillworth Park, Devizes
When: Wednesday 31st July 2024 from 12:00pm to 2:30pm (weather permitting). Meet at the Park from 12:00pm.

See poster below for more information. For more information about the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living please click [HERE].

Have Your Say on the Learning Disability Strategy – free cake!

Voice It, Hear It is an engagement project that works with people aged 18+ living in Wiltshire to get involved in shaping the services they use. They work with people with physical disabilities, sensory needs, mental health issues, learning disabilities, neurodiversity, long term conditions, complex needs, older people and people with dementia.

Voice It, Hear It also work alongside Wiltshire Council and the B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) and people living and working in Wiltshire to co-produce, co-design and co-develop health and social care services in Wiltshire.

Voice It, Hear It is going to be working on the Wiltshire Council Learning Disability Strategy and would like to hear from people with a Learning Disability and their family carers.

If you would like to hear more and be invited to a workshop featuring cake and creativity, email: voice@communityfirst.org.uk. You can find out more about Voice It, Hear It [HERE].

How do you use Technology to Support your Independence?

Matt and Zoë at Community First would love to hear from people aged 18 to 25 about the technology you use and how it supports your independence and wellbeing. This could be anything from checking bus times on an app, getting information through a smart speaker, smart lightbulbs, or apps that help manage anxiety etc.

Contact Matt or Zoë at Community First by emailing: voice@communityfirst.org.uk to answer a few short questions and go into a draw for a chance to win a £30 Amazon Voucher.

Voice It, Hear It Project

Voice it, Hear It is an engagement project that works with people aged 18+ living in Wiltshire to get involved in shaping the services they use.

They work alongside people living and working in Wiltshire and Wiltshire Council and the BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) to co-produce, co-design and co-develop health and social care services in Wiltshire.

Voice it, Hear it are currently working with Public Health on a pilot project around health screening for people with learning disabilities and /or Autistic people. The aim is to both promote the benefits of health screening that is available to people at different stages in their life and understand barriers that some may face in accessing information and screening. They also want to understand the experiences of carers, both in supporting the health needs of those they care for, and the impact being a carer might have on accessing health screening for themselves.

There are two surveys open to hear people’s experiences.

For people receiving care or support- https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/V6DX8M

For carers - https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/FtBuy1

Research Opportunity for Caregivers

Laura McAllister is conducting research about caregivers’ views of accessing crisis support services to support children with learning disabilities as part of their Masters dissertation at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent.

They are looking for parents or carers of children with learning disabilities in England who have accessed telephone crisis services (such as mental health crisis services, crisis advice services etc which are accessed via telephone) to support their child and would be interested in taking part in a 1 to 1.5 hour online interview with Laura. This project is being supervised by Dr Suzy Mejía-Buenaño and has been approved by Tizard Centre Ethics Committee.

If you would be interested in taking part, please email Laura McAllister at lmm62@kent.ac.uk.

Research Opportunity

Joanna Bennett is a second year Trainee Educational Psychologist who is studying a doctorate in Educational Psychology with the University of Bristol.

Joanna’s research, which is titled Exploring the experiences of parents and carers of SEND adolescents in secondary education. There is some research on parents/carers’ experiences of their children’s education. Some of this previous research has suggested concerns around parents/carers being misunderstood by their child’s schools or having a difference of opinion to that of the schools. The aim is to add to the research by sharing the experiences of Black parents/carers on inclusion from their teenager’s school.

Joanna would like to hear from parents/carers who meet all the following criteria:
• Black parents/carers. This includes birth parents, foster carers, special guardianship, and kinship carers.
• Who have a child (currently in secondary education) with a special educational need, on the special needs register and/or has an Education Health Care plan (EHC plan).
• Live in Gloucestershire or within 35-mile radius of Gloucester.

If you meet the criteria would like to take part in the research please email Joanna at jb15414@bristol.ac.uk.

New Young Pioneer News!

Please see posters below for the latest news, who Young Pioneers are and how to get involved.

“All young people should be Pioneers in designing their futures! Help Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living (WCIL) to share their views and voices!”

Please contact getinvolved@wiltshirecil.org.uk for further information or call Sharon, Abbie or Rachael on: 0300 1233442

Non-Speaking Autistic Children’s and Adolescent’s Mental Health Survey

Klaudia Niemiec is a researcher from the University of York and would like to invite you to participate in a research project that explores 'How does attending social groups impact non-speaking autistic children's and adolescents' mental wellbeing?'

Please find in attachments a flyer (Participant Recruitment Leaflet.jpg) that includes information about the study, the eligibility criteria and a link/QR code for the survey.

Each parent's unique insights and perspectives on non-speaking autism are incredibly valuable and could greatly enrich research findings.

Aimee is also working on a research study that explores the mental wellbeing of non-speaking autistic children, while also assessing the support available to them. They are interested in hearing the experiences of parents/caregivers of children aged 4-19 years.

The study involves taking part in a 10-minute, online questionnaire about wellbeing priorities and gaps and strengths of current support. All responses are anonymous and there is no obligation to answer every question.

Please see flyer below for QR code to complete the survey.

BANES, Swindon & Wiltshire (BSW) Experiences of Young People’s Transition from CAMHS at 18 years Old – Parent Carer and Young People’s Surveys

Oxford Health Foundation Trust Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust Mental Health Service (AMHS) are keen to better understand the experience of young people and their parents/carers as they transition at 18 years of age from CAMHS to AMHS in Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset and Swindon.

The surveys below are for parent carers and young people who have had experience of transitioning from CAMHS at 18 in the last 2 years.

This survey will take 5 minutes to answer. Your input will help shape the future of this important process.

The focus on learning from these surveys will happen in one area at a time starting with Wiltshire and in time moving on to Bath and North East Somerset and Swindon as a fuller picture of need is developed.

The aspiration is that every young person under CAMHS will receive information about a range of options in adult mental health services, be asked their views to add to any adult mental health service referral and receive information on support available for parents/carers.

Responses will be stored and analysed in a group with other responses by a joint CAMHS and AMHS service development team, in order to improve services for young people in the future. It will not be linked to your young person’s clinical records or used to inform their individual care. If you would like to discuss your young person’s individual care please contact their clinician(s).

The surveys will be anonymous unless you choose to provide your details to be contacted to join a focus group or take part in a semi-structured interview.

Please click on the links below or scan the QR code to take part in the surveys:

[Parent carer survey]





[Young people's survey]

What Would you Like to See in a Paediatric Hospital Passport?

A hospital passport is a document that provides information about children and young people that healthcare professionals can read. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust along with other trusts across the region, are working with NHS England, and the South West Region of Parent Carer Forums, to create a singular paediatric hospital passport that can be used throughout the South West region.

They have created a questionnaire to give you a chance to have your voice heard about the features you would like to see within the regional paediatric hospital passport.

Please click [here] to go to the questionnaire.

This questionnaire is for parents, carers, and healthcare professionals alike. The passport is for any child, or young person who would like one. This can include children with learning disabilities, complex care, mental health disorders, or any child who regularly attends hospital.

They would like your input as to what features are put into the passport. The answers to this questionnaire will help develop the next paediatric regional hospital/health passport. They greatly appreciate your time in filling out the answers and sharing this with your contacts.

For any more information on hospital passports, please visit: [Hospital Passport].