Trinity hosts first in-person National Parent Power Conference

Nearly 40 parents from Bradford, Cardiff, East London, South London, London’s Empoderando Familias, Fenland, Knowsley, Peterborough and Oldham will attend the first in-person National Parent Power Conference, at Trinity College, 7-8 September.

Parent Power, which has a growing number of chapters across the UK, seeks to empower parents and carers and embolden their children to aim high when it comes to educational opportunities and career paths.

Co-organised by Trinity College and the university access charity, the Brilliant Club, which oversees the Parent Power programme, the conference will explore the process of lasting change, plan campaign priorities, and discuss how universities can provide the best support possible for parents and young people.

A Leader in Parent Power Oldham, Yaasmin Mughees, who will speak at the conference, said it was important to maintain the momentum of aiming for higher education. ‘Families who are trying to make ends meet sometimes lose this momentum amongst other worries and struggles,’ she said.

I am feeling excited to be going to Trinity College to attend the National Parent Power Conference. It will be a day to experience what I have always wanted my daughters to experience and take part in discussions that provide a better future for our community and young people.

It will be Yaasmin Mughees’ second visit to Trinity after parents and children from Parent Power Oldham came in May 2022, at the start of a three-year partnership with the College.

‘Our partnership now supports around 50 parents in Oldham,’ said Trinity’s Outreach Coordinator, Amber Silk. ‘Through our partnership we are directly responding to what parents and carers tell us their children and communities need.’

We are supporting parents to take leadership roles to increase their knowledge of higher education and to improve their community’s infrastructures, and it was a natural step to ensure parent groups can share these efforts across their networks.

The National Parent Power Conference will consolidate conversations about how universities should be engaging with parents, and our role will be to facilitate this and to advocate for them.

Parent Power Fenland and Parent Power Peterborough have also visited Trinity in recent years.

Anne Marie Canning, Chief Executive Officer of The Brilliant Club, who is also taking part in the conference, said:

Our Parent Power National Conference is going to be a landmark moment with parents and carers from across the country coming together to discuss and take action on access to university and educational opportunity.

Trinity College’s support and involvement has been vital in making this possible and we are excited for what the future holds for Parent Power across the UK. If we are serious about higher education access we need parents and carers involvement in creating bright educational futures for their children and communities.