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Important Announcement On The Future Of BPV & How It Is Funded

Dear Members,

Important Announcement On The Future Of BPV & How It Is Funded

Until recently Bromley Parent Voice was, like many NNPCF Parent Carer Forums, funded in part by a small grant from the Department for Education. To be awarded this grant, we needed to fulfil a set of criteria which has increasingly placed great demands upon us particularly as BPV is a tiny organisation run by a small but dedicated group of parent & carer volunteers, Plus, our organisation along with the rest of the country is still recovering from the aftermath of the pandemic & subsequent lockdown. BPV has represented the voice of parent/carers over many years but for this to continue, we need more parents & carers to join our organisation to represent the voices of families of children/YP with SEND in Bromley.

BPV is a small organisation dependent on the goodwill of a group of volunteers and a board of trustees and we felt that we were better able to support our members as an independent charity. A great deal of the Trustee & Steering group’s time has been spent trying to ensure that we meet the conditions to access the DofE grant. This has, at times, taken us away from where we believe our time is best spent – helping our members and their children and young people with SEND.

What does this mean for our members?

• You do not need to take any action if you wish to remain a member of BPV and continue to receive the benefits of that membership.
• We will continue to work closely with other charities and organisations involved in SEND both locally and nationally, including the Local Authority and schools.
• Now that we are fully independent, we can be more responsive to the needs of those we serve and pursue more alternative avenues of funding and partnerships than before.
• Our Board capacity to support our Steering Group and seek additional funding will increase now that the demands on our time from elsewhere have reduced.
• We can enhance our social media offer and forge closer links with organisations that would be beneficial to our members.
• We will be able to better utilise help from skilled members of our community who may not be parent & carers of children with SEND themselves but still share our values and want to help us in supporting you.

Whilst BPV is very proud of all the work we have undertaken with the support of the DofE grant over the years, we are excited to enter this new and independent phase of our charity. We look forward to shaping our offer to better support you as members and as always, welcome any fundraising ideas of assistance you might like to offer in creating the mutual support space you want us to be. If you would like to join us as a volunteer or as a trustee during this new and exciting phase of our journey, please do get in touch with us on:

info@bromleyparentvoice.org.uk.

With very best wishes from

The BPV Team