My name is Jordan Fairhurst. As many of you know I do a lot of the computer side of the group, so write ups of sessions, taking photos, even down to creating this website.
Parent 2 Parent is a support group for parents and carers of individuals with disabilities. It is run by Vicky Fairhurst, David Fairhurst and Sophie Brookes. Vicky and David Fairhurst just so happen to be my parents too. I have watched them spend hours and hours talking about their group and the difference they want to make to parents that are in a very similar situation to them. I have sat there and listened to them try and find the best help for other parents and put their heads together to find solutions to other people’s problems. And I have spent many more hours than I ever needed to listening to my mum and Sophie on the phone talking about this group and everything they have to offer. So, when they asked me to come down to their information fair on the 19th of course I said yes. And when they asked me to do a write up on their event, I said yes but with a typical Jordan sense of drama throughout.
The idea of the information fair was to invite a number of different services down that parents wouldn’t have typically had easy access to in order to network and find out any information that they may need. Parent 2 Parent aims to help parents by empowering them to find information themselves. They are always happy to point you in the right direction, but it is then up to you to ‘do the thing’ and talk to the professional. Having events such as this one opens the door for these interactions and helps build confidence when talking to professionals.
When my parents were setting up this event, they set it up initially it took them around 2 hours before they had to get the kids at school. I was mildly curious why they weren’t providing me with the a+ level of entertainment they usually do and instead where on around 80,000 phone calls. I finally managed to get their attention by being very, very annoying when my mum asked me what I thought about the idea and I was all for it, very supportive and then went to make my cup of tea.
Fast forward a few weeks to Tuesday 19th April. Me and two of my siblings, Matthew and Lauren got ourselves up and out of bed early on our days off to go and support our parents. This isn’t a usual habit, not even in the ballpark of usual habit. ANYWAY, we arrived in time to help set up tables and chairs and set up Matthew’s stand. My brother is a member of staff with the Army Cadet Force, he brought along some leaflets to hand out for both parents wanting a little bit of them time, or a hobby for their older children. Me and Lauren also helped our parents set up a stand with all of their own leaflets and information they have to offer.
The first service to arrive came from the Surestart centre. They came with more generalised information rather than disability specific, however this appealed to a lot of parents since most of them have multiple children, not all with disabilities. On my travels around the room waffling to everybody because I didn’t have a stand to man, I took some photos of all of our lovely guests and their stands that I will attach at the end of this. I wanted to ensure that I gathered all the information for parents who weren’t able to make it. The Surestart stand had numerous leaflets and flyers on things such as a Parents Survival course, information on self help and The Sanctuary for those that may need it, a poster about the Manchester Health Visiting Service and the Manchester Bump to Baby Programme to just name a few. Alongside the leaflets and information posters were some books and playsets for children. The playsets were playdough hair stylists and make your own clay dinosaur and I took much offence at the fact I wasn’t allowed either due to being a full grown adult. But that’s fine. I’m not bitter or anything.
Pretty soon after we had the dental service arrive. This was a popular stand with all of the parents, so I didn’t get a look in for a good 30-45 minutes. I’m kind of glad about this, the giant model teeth that were on the table were slightly horrifying. But if we ignore that nightmare, that I will include a picture of for reference, there was a lot of useful information being given out, such as details on how to get urgent dental care, top tips for your children to keep their teeth strong and healthy, as well as offering new toothbrushes and toothpaste to parents and children. A few parents had to bring their children with them to the group because of half term holidays and such, these children enjoyed the overly large teeth a lot more than I did and I’m glad to announce that they all left with free toothbrushes.
Further to this we had a stand set up for the Rodney House outreach team to share what they offer and how they can help families in need. Known most popularly as RHOSEY. RHOSEY is an outreach service offered to Manchester families and Manchester Early Years Settings. This involves partnership with parents, carers and other professionals with a commitment to inclusion, empowering parents and settings to build on a child’s strengths using a positive approach, using small steps to support learning, learning through play and having fun and working together and celebrating achievements with the child and their family. That right there is copied right off of the leaflet they had out on the table. I stopped by this table a lot on my travels, they had sensory toys out that I wanted to stand there and mess with. My favourite was a wooden animal jigsaw but when you lifted the pieces out there was fur that resembled the animal on top of it. I definitely was not the target audience for this BUT it was pretty cool nonetheless. Safe to say my sister did not find it anywhere near as entertaining as I did. There was a lot of eyerolling coming from Lauren when she saw her 22 year old sister solving a child’s jigsaw but heyho we move on.
Walking around the hall and stopping to answer any and all questions people had was Educational Psychologist Carol Plummer. She was wonderful, taking the time to discuss whatever it was parents had to ask. She didn’t have a stand and leaflets and flashy posters, (or oversized teeth) but she did have a lot of knowledge and a kind response for everybody who approached including me!
The last stand that we had was set up by the Special Needs Nursing team. This stand was set up by quite possibly the smiliest, warmest women I have ever met. Pictures of this for proof will be uploaded shortly. The special needs nursing team consists of community nurses, school nurses and school nurse assistants. They provide support and planned care within the home and school environment for children aged 3-19 with physical and learning disabilities. When I was being nosey at their table, I saw that they had a display showing how much sugar is in certain items and I can say with a hundred percent honesty I have been put off ketchup and coco pops for life.
Lastly, we had Andy from SENDIASS come in to do a talk about EHCs and everything that comes along with that. I didn’t bob into this room as much as I did with all the stands that were up and running but I can say with certainty that it was hugely successful and everyone that went into the talk stayed there for the rest of the event. EHC’s are something that every single parent that attends the support group mentioned they have some kind of issue with, so naturally they all had so many questions to ask.
I am going to upload all of the pictures that I have taken and the stands I took photos off for everybody that didn’t make it to the event in person. Do not worry, you didn’t miss out and all of the information that was shared will be made available to you too.
When my parents first brought me the idea of setting this group up, I was unsure of how it was going to work. Would anyone be interested? Would anyone from Gorton show up? Would the online presence I had set up make a blind bit of difference? Would this help anyone?
Every single doubt I had, every worry I had for them has been absolutely smashed into a million and one pieces. They had proved they have what it takes to be that support system that they once needed themselves. Dave, my mum and Sophie have made me, and all of their other children incredibly proud and they are a credit to their families and friends. Going from struggling alone to being the system that people turn to is an incredible accomplishment. I know what their next steps are going to be. I sit here and give my opinion on it all. You are all lucky to have these people ready to help them with anything and everything.
Stay tuned to what is going to come next, as well as the photos of the stands from the event I am going to post.
Jordan Fairhurst x