Project: Parent Champions Plus
Funding: £536,411 from the Department for Education for a pilot from April 2013 to March 2014
Background: The Parent Champions programme, which involves parent volunteers spreading information to other parents about early years education and other services, dates back to 2007 and is now active in 23 local authority areas.
In 2012, the majority of projects were run by local authority family information services, many of which went on to see outreach funding cut. Meanwhile, an evaluation by Coram showed some of the schemes had not anticipated the level of support volunteers would need at first.
The Family and Childcare Trust, which devised the programme, was keen to find a model of delivery that supported outreach work and volunteers. The charity was struck by the success of one of their pathfinder projects, based in a children's centre in Liverpool. "Children's centres are used to managing volunteers so have more of an awareness of the induction and support parent champions need," says Helen Clark, director of fundraising and service delivery.
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