National Valuing Families Forum development day

19th October 2015

Notes from the day
Outcomes for the session
This session was planned to help you think about your roles and responsibilities, both as a Forum and as individual members.
The two outcomes planned for the day were:
to broadly agree the role and responsibilities of the different elements of the Forum: Chair, Co-Chair, Inclusion North, individual
members
to explore and get consensus about the culture of the Forum and how you work together to get your job done.
So we agreed that we couldnt write job descriptions, but we can get a broad agreement about the culture and the who does what
- and make plans for what needs to happen next.
The photos and words over the next few pages are a record of what we did and what we agreed.
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Whos here?

We started by introducing ourselves and sharing three words that people might (or do!) use to describe us. As we went round,
we realised how many people had included the word, passionate.
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So whats the National Valuing Families Forum then?

Tricia asked people to think about another organisation that worked in a similar way to the National Valuing Families Forum.
The one we kept coming back to was the WI (Note: as Im writing these, I thought how people even know it by its acronym thats a sign of genuine influence!).
We talked about how the WI is a household name, people are clear what it stands for and what joining will mean. They have
clear and robust local, regional and national structures so everyone knows what they are doing and the part they play. As the
day went on, we kept coming back to the question.

We then worked in small groups to think

about what the National Valuing Families
Forum is and what you are trying to
achieve..but we had to try and explain it
to Tricias Mum. The poster on the next
pages shows what you said and the themes
you identified.

whats our Jam and

Jerusalem?

The themes
This poster shows all the seven themes. You can see them
in more detail over the next few pages.

Background and context: the National Valuing Families

Forum was part of making the Valuing People White paper
really happen - nothing about us without us

Family life and life as a family carer: there to champion the concept that we
should have ordinary family lives, and that as family carers we also have
rights

Soul food: the National Valuing Families Forum is more than just a
meeting or network - we gather strength from each other

Values - people getting a great life: we are clear that we are

working towards all families and people with learning disabilities
getting a great (and ordinary) life. We hold that shared vision.

Representation: this has a ? because we talked

about how hard this is. The reality is that we work
to bring the voice of all families of people with
learning disabilities to the National Valuing
Families Forum, whilst recognising that voices
speak differently around the country

Expertise and experience: we

bring our lived experience and that
of 1000s of families. We use this to
make things better

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From front rooms to Downing Street and back: our central

purpose is to check and challenge how well people are
getting to live ordinary lives - from a family perspective. The
flow is and must be two way - we inform government
proactively and we respond to them. We are their reality
check.

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What is our Jam and Jerusalem?

We agreed from this discussion that there are several things about who the National Valuing Families Forum are, what they do
and how they work that need to be tightened up. You worked with your neighbouring regions and mapped out your history and
how things work now. From that, you pulled out the key questions and issues that the Forum needs to address .to ensure
that EVERYONE is clear about your Jam and Jerusalem!
Who we are
We are not an organisation, we are a network of people and groups
We have regional representatives and allies who share a value base
Our Values
We need to be proud, explicit and upfront about our values. We stand for human rights and an ordinary life
What we do
We are clear about our role to check and challenge and the concept of from front rooms to Downing Street and back. Do we
need to define our image/brand? flexibility/openness etc
Membership
it is critical that we draw up a recruitment process for the regions that is explicit and standard (there are currently different
processes everywhere so it would be good to learn from what is working well, e.g. in the North West there is a named
representative who comes to the Forum with 2 people working with them back in the region. They also have a sound
infrastructure of a families and self advocates forum supported by the NWTDT)
We need to look at how to reach out to new people
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 Regional representatives always have to be a family member (but do you have to be a current family carer to stand? You said
yes)
We noted that many of the people who are representatives have come through a family leadership programme. Building on
peoples skills and knowledge is something we have to pay attention to
Allies - some members of the Forum are not family members and historically, we have members who are allies - who have a
shared value base. They often attend out of work time. We need to agree a recruitment process for allies and agree how we
decide whether an individual or organisation brings value to what the National Valuing Families Forum does
Should organisations be represented (you generally felt not)? What do we do about Provider organisations as members? This is
problematical for the Forum, but the people from organisations who are currently members are there historically, and would
count as allies
There is lots of goodwill involved - we need to look at how to make sure this is not exploited
Outside speakers are often invited to the Forum. We need to be clear about how we decide who we invite to speak or to attend
meetings and what their role and remit is. We need to agree who makes the final decision about this
Roles and Responsibilities and how we work
Everyone needs to have a clear understanding about why they are a member of the National Valuing Families Forum and about
what their responsibilities are. Each region has a responsibility for making sure their representative knows what their job is
Chairing should be an elected process and a staggered overlap makes sense
There needs to be a Chair, a small planning group and other clear roles done by people comfortable and competent in doing
those roles, working alongside Inclusion North
The Chair holds an important role as the face of the National Valuing Families Forum

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Next steps - what all of this means we need to do!

Draft and agree:
an introduction to the National Valuing Families Forum, what we stand for and what we do
a formal recruitment process for regional representatives
a formal role description for regional representatives as well as thinking about ongoing training and
support
a rational and process for inviting allies to be part of the National Valuing Families Forum or to come and
speak
a process for electing a Chair and planning group, including the roles and responsibilities of the Chair and
planning group alongside the role and responsibilities of Inclusion North as the support organisation
And finally, do some work to think about image and brand - this will include working on the website and on
outward facing information about the National Valuing Families Forum.
Good luck!

Facilitated by Tricia Nicoll

tricia@tricianicoll.com

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