A group supporting the families of children with special educational needs has won a national award.

South Glos Parents and Carers picked up an Excellence in Parent Carer Participation Award at a ceremony in the Palace of Westminster on July 8.

The award was part of disability charity Contact's 'Together at 40' celebrations. The award was presented by children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi, with the ceremony hosted by Women's Hour presenter Jane Garvey.

South Glos Parents and Carers has seen a remarkable rise since forming ten years ago.

In 2009 they were a group of eight parents meeting in a coffee shop but they now have more than 1,150 members.

Rachel Trueman, founder and CEO, said “We are thrilled to have won this award. Our passion and our drive are to see service improvements for our community and making sure that we are fully involved in the process.

"Over the past 10 years we have been working really hard to build trust and relationships with education, health and social care services, with the sole aim of working co-productively together in mutual understanding towards positive change. We have had successes but there is still a lot of work to be done.

"Our community is our motivation. Without our community giving their time and energy attending our events, completing our surveys and giving us their views, winning this award would not have been possible.

"It is an award for our whole amazing community and we hope it will give us more opportunities to build stronger links with service and council leaders and any MPs who are keen to meet with us to hear the parent carer experience.”

Amanda Batten, CEO of charity, Contact said: "Huge congratulations to South Glos Parents and Carers for their Excellence in Parent Participation win. They have gone the extra mile in bringing the voices of local parent carers together and providing a supportive environment for parents."

For more information about the group visit

sglospc.org.uk