It’s important to introduce yourself, why you’re there, and all participating parents and carers (and re-introduce each time if appropriate).

It’s a good idea to share the plan or agenda for the session (not everyone will have time to read emails in advance), explain how you’d like them to contribute, and any ‘ground rules’ or expectations (more below!).

You may want to offer the opportunity for parents and carers to contact you privately during the session if there are facing any specific challenges.

In the network, we treat each other with respect, empathy and patience, and without judgement.

In some cases, it may be useful to develop an agreement together with participants about how you want to work together; you may want to share some ‘ground rules’ e.g. sharing views without interruption, keeping others’ experiences confidential, taking up support if needed etc.

Sharing lived experience may come at an emotional cost for the parent or carer, so it needs to be valued and treated sensitively.

It’s worth emphasising that parents and carers can engage in different ways and so providing different methods to contribute may help, particularly if someone doesn’t seem to be participating. For example, you could offer participants the option to share written responses, turn off their camera if they need to, send responses or views afterwards, pause for reflections and take breaks after difficult discussions.

As discussed in the Before guidance, it is important to establish a safe space, including trigger warnings and signposting at the start and throughout the session where relevant.

It’s helpful to let parents or carers know what they can do if they feel triggered or distressed during the session e.g.:

• You can make them aware that they can take a break if needed, and build breaks into the session agenda
• You can also let them know how they can contact the team afterwards, and how they would like you to follow up with them, and proactively check in with them where helpful
• You can share who they can speak to, and relevant organisations you could signpost them to (e.g. SHOUT, Samaritans, Charlie Waller Peer Support) if someone is feeling particularly distressed.