camden family advisory board (FAB parent group)
who is involved?
In Camden Tim Fisher social worker and relational activist started a coffee morning in Camden Town with parents who had experienced the child protection system
Tim Fisher:
In my first year working in Camden, I was passionate about speaking with families, which led me to start a coffee morning where I could listen to local parents. We circulated some information to gather a group, and ten people came to that first event. I was nervous, so I came prepared with a few exercises, one that has been much repeated over the years involves a ball of wool. We sat in a circle and passed a ball of wool, crisscrossing as we went. That first morning it felt good to be stood together, connected by wool and so much more, a network that would carry on for the next ten years. Some people from that meeting are still involved, including Kar-Man, who now coordinates the Family Advisory Board today. It’s been an excellent way to learn about Camden and the families there, and it remains my favourite event of the month.
Kar-Man:
I came to the first FAB meeting with curiosity, as people go to speed dating, I guess, as you do not know who you will meet. I'm glad that I have this curiosity and joined the first FAB coffee morning that Tim created in 2014! We started the meeting with a ball of wool! I still find it hilarious that Tim carries that ball of wool in his bag wherever he goes in those years! That ball of wool helps to show the connection of the people in the room; it's so amazing. I look forward to this meeting every month, because I have so much to share and learn from others, especially when it comes to the point that we can use our experience to do something to help improve the service.
what did we do ?
It's been fun to be with people. Co-design, for us, is; Forming a Team and living it out in real-time. Working on relationships while we work on projects. We have enjoyed sharing space, sharing decisions, growing and seeing the fruits of the labour - things we made happen as a Team. We audaciously imagined Camden was a village! Camden, a London borough of 250,000 people, and believed that we could know the people there and be available to them! Why not?
There are ‘storytellers’ in the group, speaking about their own experiences. There were ‘bonders’ there, people that provide that social glue, ensuring everyone gets along. There are also ‘bridge builders’ parents and social workers taking a relational risk, willing to bridge the gap and open up. ‘Organisers’, such as Kar-Man, who has taken on the organisation of the Family Advisory board and become a peer researcher. Yes! We celebrate the movement! as people travel from pre-defined roles, ‘professional’/parents and find new ones. Yes we believe those fixed roles are changing in Camden, and parent advocates from FAB are now paid to provide a service. They have gone from being recipients of a service to helping contribute to service design and delivery.
what happened?
This way of working has allowed us to have sustained relationships with people, meaning we learn together and have continued conversations over time. Working together on the Family Advisory Board for 9 years, making meaning by travelling with people to present work done together over the years at learning events, like conferences, has been fun.
Camden Conversations is an example of the excellent project work, 'a family-led child protection inquiry' it was born out of a partnership with Camden’s Community, Tim and the social work service, academic Professor Anna Gupta and ‘Annie’ from Surviving Safeguarding.
It became a developing study in the power of parents to change how social workers conceive of their practice. Throughout 2018 /2019, parent-activists led this major participatory research project into child protection practices,
One of big recommendations in Camden Conversations was Peer Parental Advocacy, parents drawing on their lived experiences, getting trained and supporting other parents who need help navigating the child protection system. All of these examples of good work help form set a beliefs about the right of community to be involved in the ground-level democracy in Camden. To be part of who makes the decisions about how services are run. In this is the hope of new potential collaborations and shared futures.
Link to full report and recommendations:
FAB has its own website with information about the group
https://www.familyadvisoryboardcamden.com
Camden Conversations a video summary
