Universities talk constantly about civic engagement with their local communities. But what does this mean in practice? And how can it be done effectively?

Parent Power is one such example, emerging from a desire to work with parents and carers of less-advantaged young people to support them to access and succeed at university. Research has shown that parent and carer engagement in young people’s education has a positive effect on educational outcomes, and is even more powerful when done in a relational way.  Parental engagement is something that has threaded through my own career, starting at King’s College London where I helped to set up South London Parent Power. I now work as Director of Communities at The Brilliant Club, where my team oversees Parent Power chapters in 11 localities across the UK.

Back in 2017 at King’s, we knew that the parent voice was important, but everything we had tried to engage parents had failed. Either no-one turned up, or there was no sustained engagement. We turned to Citizens UK, the pre-eminent community organising charity in the UK. Community organising can be broadly defined as a methodology for creating social change, focusing on building strong relationships with and between local people, leading to community-led solutions to local issues. In practice, this involves trained community organisers conducting one-to-one conversations with people within a locality and working with them in group meetings to create change on issues they care about. The aim is to build enough relational power to create change on these issues, with community members leading the way.

In 2018, I started to go out and have one-to-one conversations with parents in our local boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. I shared my personal story and heard about their fears, hopes and dreams for their children. I learned about barriers that held their children back, including a lack of opportunities during summer holidays and expensive travel costs to attend university open days. When the group came together as South London Parent Power, we discussed the barriers that emerged in these conversations and how we could act together to break them down. Fast forward to now, and South London parents have won free bespoke open days at universities, summer school bursaries for their children and ensured that Lambeth Council created a social mobility strategy. Alongside this, parents have become experts in higher education and ambassadors for King’s College London in their communities.

Could this work outside London? As a proud Oldham-er, it was a privilege to support with the creation of Oldham Parent Power in 2019. Oldham is an entirely different place to South London, but we saw similar engagement from parents. Crucially, the Oldham chapter brought together families of all ethnicities in a town still scarred by race riots in 2001. The movement has grown and now, across all our chapters, parents are supported to develop community organising skills and are given advice and guidance on accessing higher education. With these resources, they are empowered to ensure their children have a fair chance in education and their future careers.

What can we learn from Parent Power that could contribute to a university’s civic mission?

  1. Listening is vital. For many of the parents we work with, this might be the first time a local institution has actively listened to them. In our Cardiff chapter, contextual admissions became the key issue. BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) parent leaders said they were uncomfortable sharing their background information during the application process, out of fear of being discriminated against. However, it is important that universities can access such information to ensure their contextual admissions policies are as effective as possible. Once both groups had worked together to accurately identify the problem, parents and community organisers at Cardiff Parent Power came together to discuss what change they wanted to see. They met with the Admissions and Outreach teams at Cardiff University with five asks, which were afterwards implemented in full by the University. By establishing a reciprocal relationship with parents through listening, universities can consult with parents to best represent the needs of the local community.
  1. Relationships are everything. The community organising process builds relationships between citizens, but it also builds long-term relationships between institutions and the communities they serve. In Peterborough, parents are concerned about the lack of work experience opportunities for their children. Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) welcomed parents to their Peterborough campus and discussed this issue with them. What could the university, as a local anchor institution, provide for families who are seeking the best opportunities for their children? ARU have not only promised to provide volunteering and work experience placements for Peterborough Parent Power families, they have also involved them in the process of building their long-term offer. A relationship based on trust has developed between families and the university which will see benefits beyond this immediate campaign. 
  1. There needs to be the possibility of change. When we first meet many parents, they are sceptical. They tell us they are sick and tired of being told things will change but then they never do. Many of these same parents will be at our National Parent Power Conference on 23rd March, developing a national campaign with fellow parents from across the UK. Parent Power has enabled them to win local campaigns, become local leaders and feel like they have an influence. We have learnt that engagement and motivation is a natural consequence of real potential for meaningful change.

Community engagement is essential for universities. If it involves genuine listening, relationship building and change-making with local families, it can be transformational for both institutions and communities.

If you are interested in establishing a Parent Power chapter, please get in touch with Jimmy Pickering, Director of Communities at The Brilliant Club on jimmy.pickering@thebrilliantclub.org. You can also find out more about the impact of the model here.

Universities talk constantly about civic engagement with their local communities. But what does this mean in practice? And how can it be done effectively?

Parent Power is one such example, emerging from a desire to work with parents and carers of less-advantaged young people to support them to access and succeed at university. Research has shown that parent and carer engagement in young people’s education has a positive effect on educational outcomes, and is even more powerful when done in a relational way.  Parental engagement is something that has threaded through my own career, starting at King’s College London where I helped to set up South London Parent Power. I now work as Director of Communities at The Brilliant Club, where my team oversees Parent Power chapters in 11 localities across the UK.

Back in 2017 at King’s, we knew that the parent voice was important, but everything we had tried to engage parents had failed. Either no-one turned up, or there was no sustained engagement. We turned to Citizens UK, the pre-eminent community organising charity in the UK. Community organising can be broadly defined as a methodology for creating social change, focusing on building strong relationships with and between local people, leading to community-led solutions to local issues. In practice, this involves trained community organisers conducting one-to-one conversations with people within a locality and working with them in group meetings to create change on issues they care about. The aim is to build enough relational power to create change on these issues, with community members leading the way.

In 2018, I started to go out and have one-to-one conversations with parents in our local boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. I shared my personal story and heard about their fears, hopes and dreams for their children. I learned about barriers that held their children back, including a lack of opportunities during summer holidays and expensive travel costs to attend university open days. When the group came together as South London Parent Power, we discussed the barriers that emerged in these conversations and how we could act together to break them down. Fast forward to now, and South London parents have won free bespoke open days at universities, summer school bursaries for their children and ensured that Lambeth Council created a social mobility strategy. Alongside this, parents have become experts in higher education and ambassadors for King’s College London in their communities.

Could this work outside London? As a proud Oldham-er, it was a privilege to support with the creation of Oldham Parent Power in 2019. Oldham is an entirely different place to South London, but we saw similar engagement from parents. Crucially, the Oldham chapter brought together families of all ethnicities in a town still scarred by race riots in 2001. The movement has grown and now, across all our chapters, parents are supported to develop community organising skills and are given advice and guidance on accessing higher education. With these resources, they are empowered to ensure their children have a fair chance in education and their future careers.

What can we learn from Parent Power that could contribute to a university’s civic mission?

  1. Listening is vital. For many of the parents we work with, this might be the first time a local institution has actively listened to them. In our Cardiff chapter, contextual admissions became the key issue. BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) parent leaders said they were uncomfortable sharing their background information during the application process, out of fear of being discriminated against. However, it is important that universities can access such information to ensure their contextual admissions policies are as effective as possible. Once both groups had worked together to accurately identify the problem, parents and community organisers at Cardiff Parent Power came together to discuss what change they wanted to see. They met with the Admissions and Outreach teams at Cardiff University with five asks, which were afterwards implemented in full by the University. By establishing a reciprocal relationship with parents through listening, universities can consult with parents to best represent the needs of the local community.
  1. Relationships are everything. The community organising process builds relationships between citizens, but it also builds long-term relationships between institutions and the communities they serve. In Peterborough, parents are concerned about the lack of work experience opportunities for their children. Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) welcomed parents to their Peterborough campus and discussed this issue with them. What could the university, as a local anchor institution, provide for families who are seeking the best opportunities for their children? ARU have not only promised to provide volunteering and work experience placements for Peterborough Parent Power families, they have also involved them in the process of building their long-term offer. A relationship based on trust has developed between families and the university which will see benefits beyond this immediate campaign. 
  1. There needs to be the possibility of change. When we first meet many parents, they are sceptical. They tell us they are sick and tired of being told things will change but then they never do. Many of these same parents will be at our National Parent Power Conference on 23rd March, developing a national campaign with fellow parents from across the UK. Parent Power has enabled them to win local campaigns, become local leaders and feel like they have an influence. We have learnt that engagement and motivation is a natural consequence of real potential for meaningful change.

Community engagement is essential for universities. If it involves genuine listening, relationship building and change-making with local families, it can be transformational for both institutions and communities.

If you are interested in establishing a Parent Power chapter, please get in touch with Jimmy Pickering, Director of Communities at The Brilliant Club on jimmy.pickering@thebrilliantclub.org. You can also find out more about the impact of the model here.