At the heart of the Parent Carer Research Network is our vision that all parents and carers are included meaningfully in research.

The network has been founded by parents with lived experience, the Charlie Waller Trust, and research teams at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford. We are led by a steering group of parents and carers from diverse backgrounds from across the UK. We are funded by the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and the Charlie Waller Trust.

The group’s aim is for the experiences of all parents and carers to be represented in research. We also want to ensure that parents and carers have positive experiences of being involved in research. This includes:

• being compensated appropriately
• feeling that they are part of a safe space, with research activities accessible to their needs
• receiving feedback on the impact of their participation
• and feeling valued for the contribution they made.

Our “Guide for Researchers”, which our steering group has led on, sets out good practice guidance for the research projects promoted by the network.

Our steering group is particularly interested in hearing about how projects or activities will:

• demonstrate a benefit for parent and carer participants
• provide feedback to parent and carer participants (e.g. sharing findings, outputs, or resources).