With over 140 staff members we are an ever-growing staff network to facilitate peer support and communication between parents and carers across the university in whatever form ‘parenting’ takes. We welcome all: mums, dads, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers, LGBT+ families and parents from pregnancy through to those with adult children. We have teams space with a number of channels dedicated to all aspects of parenting including;

• Return to work following parental leave
• Parents and carers of younger children
• Parents and carers of older children
• Adoptive and foster parents and carers
• Parents and carer of disabled children
• Parents and carers of children with poor mental health
• University family friendly policies
• Events and resource for children and families

Staff are encouraged to join the network and share their own experiences/ask questions. We also run monthly lunchtime meet-ups on rotating days of the week and upcoming dates are detailed below. Bring a drink, your lunch or just yourself to connect with other parents. For those who wish we have a ‘meet local parents’ spreadsheet where staff can exchange contact details for arranging their own meet-ups.

June will be a busy month for the network. 1^st June marks the UN Global Day of Parents which was created in 2012 and is observed annually to provide an opportunity to: appreciate all parents for their “selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.” In partnership with children’s charity UNICEF and other partners the UN will be publishing a range of expert tips and resources and we’ll be sharing these in the staff network teams channel.

If you are a parent/carer to young (or not so young people) please join the teams space and come along to one of our meet-ups – All welcome.

By Sarah Finn-Sell, Michelle Almeida, Catherine Stull (Network co-chairs)

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