Katie ClarkeBringing Us Together CIC is a parent-led organisation working alongside a diverse community of people with lived experience of education, health and the social care system. Established in West Yorkshire in 2014, we connect with a growing number of families with disabled children and adults, disabled people and organisations across the country.

Our directors and part time staff have over 125 years of experience of living and working in the field of disability. We pride ourselves on being ethical and compassionate leaders, driven by our natural sense of what is good and right. We place wellbeing at the heart of all our work, whether it is a workshop, a focus group, our social media or our own team.

Three parents – Katie Clarke, Debs Aspland and Pippa Murray – co-founded Bringing Us Together. Katie lives in Halifax and is a parent of six adult children. She set up Unique Ways, known as Calderdale Parent and Carers Council, over 22 years ago and supported the establishment of many Yorkshire parent forums. She is well known in the world of parent participation and is one of the main team of trainers in co-production for the charity Contact, as well as delivering many of their popular on-line courses. Katie has always been a strong voice on behalf of parents and is passionate about justice, equality and rights. She works closely with St Augustine’s Centre for Asylum and has recently set up a support group for families from refugee backgrounds and ethnic minority families with disabled children based in Halifax.

Most of our activities take place online, which makes our work more easily accessible to families and disabled people who face daily challenges and barriers. Bringing together both family members and disabled people in one place makes our work unique. Our sessions have become a safe place of warmth, friendship and solidarity.

Bringing Us Together’s biggest asset is the connections and networks we have across the country, giving us a large range of speakers who run workshops on issues that people tell us are important to them, including direct payments, housing options, person centred planning, the Care Act, education and the law, children’s rights and advocacy. The knowledge, skills and understanding developed on a growing range of topics adds value and depth to our work.

Many of the parents and disabled people we work alongside have mental health challenges and anxiety, largely due to ongoing chronic stress from dealing with the complex health and social care systems. This can then also have a direct impact on their physical health. We have designed a model of wellbeing workshops that give voice to people to share their own lived experiences and provide an opportunity to have a platform to advocate for themselves and on behalf of others.

Over the last 10 years, we have worked with families with experience of hospitals and in-patient services. We have written survival guides for parents, including our well used survival guide on care, education and treatment reviews. We have designed key worker training programmes and have delivered a successful and popular series of parent advocacy courses for families living in Yorkshire and Humber.

For more information on our work please visit our Facebook page and twitter @bustogether or get in touch with Katie via email Katie@bringingustogether.org.uk.