Nottinghamshire Short Breaks Pathfinder Project

31st August 2008

This important project is now launched and underway, and will make a significant difference over the next two years to the landscape of short breaks provision for families with a child with a disability.  The project steering group is very clear that the participation of parents and of children/young people to inform and guide development will be crucial in producing services which effectively deliver what they want and need.

This participation will take place by:

  • having a number of parents/carers as members of task groups which have been set up to explore different aspects of short break provision.
  • ensuring that all the parents’ support groups which have contact with Parent Partnership Service receive consistent messages about the short breaks project and that parents at these groups are invited to provide views and comments that are fed back to the short breaks steering group ie that there is effective two-way communication
  • using the PPS Cool Kids Project to seek the views of children and young people about the kind of activities and support they need from a short breaks package.
  • setting up a Parent Participation Focus Group to bring together all views from task groups, parents’ groups, views gathered elsewhere eg from incidental conversations


We recognise that parents/carers do not always find it easy or comfortable to sit on ‘professional’ groups – transport, child-care, time and venue of meetings can all be barriers to parent participation, and the difficulty parents sometimes experience in finding their ‘fit’ in a group of professionals is perhaps the biggest barrier of all.  The short breaks steering group is committed to making it possible, feasible and even enjoyable, for parents/carers to play a key role in directing the project development and will make every effort to address the difficulties that seek to detract from this.  For example, meetings of task groups will be at times and venues accessible to parents who may have children to take or pick up from school; help with transport and child-care will be considered and the Parent Partnership Service is planning a series of support groups for parents taking part in these groups to address any issues with confidence and understanding of the group processes.

If you would be interested in being a part of this exciting project please contact Glyn Connolly, Lead Officer Service Development, 0115 8465550, or Edwina Cosgrove, Parent Partnership Service, 0115 9482888.  You may wish to be a member of one of the task groups, or you may already be a member of a parents’ support group and seek involvement that way.  It is vital that parents and children/young people express their views to inform and guide the development of the project – how else will it be able to match your needs and wishes?