The Summer of 2020 I was having a scroll through Facebook and came across an advert for Parent Group Leader (PGL) Training with Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC) through Flintshire Council. It instantly sparked my interest. When my eldest Oliver was a toddler I had attended numerous courses through Flying Start – Nurturing, Incredible Years and Steps to name a few. I was in awe of the Family Workers delivering the groups, they had such an empowering and meaningful role, working with parents to improve theirs and their children’s lives through these courses. So, when this advert appeared on my screen that day, I knew I had to apply.
I spoke to Emma, the EPEC co-ordinator in Flintshire a few days later. She was very enthusiastic about the training which made me even more excited to begin. I remember thinking to myself, I will do the training, but I will never be able to sit in front of a group of people and deliver a course; I didn’t have the confidence. I was always labelled as being quiet and shy growing up which had a huge impact on my confidence. Little did I know, volunteering as a PGL would be the confidence boost I had always needed.
My training was delivered online via Zoom as it was the height of the pandemic. I won’t lie and say it was the easiest thing I have ever done, it was hard work, but Emma and her colleague made each session very enjoyable. There was a lot of laughs and some tears, we had technical issues, children screaming in the background and the odd water spillage on a laptop, but it was a couple of hours that I looked forward to each week. I learnt a lot about ‘being a parent’ and new strategies that I would implement with my children each week. I was still doubting my abilities to deliver a group, but Emma and the other PGL’S training were helping me realise that I could do this. I wasn’t quiet and shy like I had always been made to believe, I had a voice that I could use to help other parents.
Delivering our first group online, myself and another PGL, were visibly shaking through the screen. What had we signed up for? Two hours later, we had delivered our first group, and it was the beginning of a journey that has led me to where I am today. I have delivered an EPEC programme every term since January 2021, and in October 2024 I was thrilled when I was offered the position of Community Parenting Support Practitioner.
Volunteering with EPEC gave me a purpose other than ‘Mum’. I was a stay at home mum to three young children when I began, working was not an option due to childcare and my husband worked. Volunteering as a PGL gave me a role to be proud of, I was contributing to the community, meeting new people and making friends, I felt valued and part of a team and my self-esteem and self-confidence soared. The skills I developed whilst volunteering have benefited my personal and professional life, from my communication skills, working as part of a team, problem solving and making me a much more empathetic person. Not only enhancing my skills, volunteering as improved my wellbeing, it gave me a sense of meaning and appreciation. Looking back to the summer of 2020 when I first came across that poster, I never realised how much volunteering would shaped my life and my future, it has opened so many opportunities, created friendships and helped so many parents along the way.
Dear Parents (mums, dads, grandparents, and carers) and little ones (babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, and early years children),
Welcome to our new, ‘Early Years and Childcare’ website – we really hope you find this useful. We have worked with parents, asking them what they want, and many parents said they wanted one place to find trusted information to help parents in Flintshire, which could be used alongside other parenting apps and websites they found useful. This is the result, and we hope you like it. Like parenting, it is never a finished job, and we learn things along the way, so we value your requests, ideas, suggestions for improvement to make this the best information space for all parents in Flintshire.
I am the parent of two daughters, and I understand the roller coaster ride of parenting, the joys, and the hard times. When I became a parent, I did not do the job I do now, and I really had no idea of some of the people I would meet as a parent: a midwife, a health visitor, a family worker. Or what I would need to know as a parent, how do I register a birth? What do I do about childcare – how do I choose the right one that will keep my child safe and look after them? When do children start school? What do I need to do? It was a whole new world to me. I met people through toddler groups and play sessions, and I got a lot of information from the website, which 20 years ago looked very different to today!
People told me to enjoy my daughters’ early years, but I was shattered, I had two young children that were terrible sleepers. I went on a STEPS programme, which helped me to look at me, and understand me better. And I spoke to the Health Visitor about sleep. We still had many sleepless nights, but those years passed, and I often wish I could go back to my little one jumping into bed with me or playing at 5am to have some of those times again. If this is you, I understand you may find this hard to believe!
The years passed, with playgroups, school and after school activities; friends came and went as the school years went by. I learnt about the importance of helping my children be the best version of themselves – it does not mean I always got it right, and I am sure they can tell you a tale or two! I had a trusted colleague, who when I was pulling my hair out at times during the adolescence years, told me, ‘Gail, when you can do nothing more, love them more’. This always stuck with me. I also got to know the lovely John Coleman, who has worked with many parents of teenagers, and teenagers themselves. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and you will see some videos and worksheets we have developed with him, based on what parents said were their main concerns. We have included these because little ones, become teenagers, and teenagers are on a mission to ‘find themselves’, and as parent this can be hard, but I go back to the words above, when you can do nothing more, love them more.
I could write so much more, but I know the lovely Jen and Ryan who developed this website (a big thank you to them both, they have been on a creative journey), will be asking me for future blogs so I will save some of my stories for again.
Enjoy your time together, from the early years to adult life, it really does go by very quickly. Build memories. Be the best parent you can be, so that your child can be the best version of themselves. If this is easy for you, great. If it is not so easy, find a friend or family member who provides sound advice and a positive parenting approach or ask for information, help, or support. There is no such thing as the perfect parent or the perfect family.
Thank you for your precious time reading this.
I really hope what you find here is useful, I wish I’d had somewhere like this to go.
Kind regards,
Gail Bennett
Service Manager – Early Years and Family Service