24 July 2024
King's College London and The Brilliant Club awarded UKRI funding to evaluate a parent-focused community organising initiative
The research will assess whether it can help parents address inequalities affecting their children's access to higher education
King’s College London and The Brilliant Club have jointly been awarded a UKRI award as part of the UKRI Creating Opportunities Development Fund to evaluate a parent-focused community organising initiative, Parent Power.
Parent Power is a parent and carer group, supported by UK university access charity The Brilliant Club and the community organising charity Citizens UK, formed to empower local parents to enact change in their children’s education and futures.
The Parent Power model brings together local parents and carers and facilitates one-to-one and group meetings led by a local Community Organiser. Through advice and guidance on accessing higher education, and developing skills in community organising, Parent Power empowers parents and carers to make positive change for their children’s future.
Together, King’s College London and The Brilliant Club are undertaking an evaluation of Parent Power, which will be the first full-scale UK evaluation of a parent-focused community organising initiative.
The research project aims to understand whether community organising methods can be used to empower parents to address educational inequalities that affect their children’s access to higher education. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the project will examine how community organising contributes to educational outcomes.
The evaluation will inform the development of the nationwide Parent Power initiative with current chapters in Cardiff, Peterborough, Fenland, Knowsley, Bradford, Oldham, Oxford and London, alongside providing invaluable guidance for other community-based and parental engagement initiatives.
Rooda Ahmed, Parent Leader at Cardiff Parent Power said: “I am excited to learn about the outcomes of the research project and the real impact of community organising methods in empowering parents to tackle educational inequalities that hinder young people from accessing higher education. Being a part of Cardiff Parent Power [...] I am keen to explore the achievements of other chapters and the effective practices that we can share.”
Daiva Charyyeva, Parent at East London Parent Power said: “This evaluation is a long overdue recognition of invaluable work that this organisation is doing in order to empower children from disadvantaged families to achieve their full potential in life.”
Anne-Marie Canning MBE, CEO of The Brilliant Club said: "This is an exciting opportunity to evaluate and understand the power of relationship based parental engagement. It combines the expertise of researchers with the wisdom of parents and will enhance our evidence and understanding of effective parental engagement."
Susannah Hume, Director of Evaluation, The Policy Institute, King’s College London said: “We’re pleased to be working with The Brilliant Club on this piece of research – the role of parents in shaping their child’s futures is well known, and Parent Power puts parents in control of choosing the support they need to address educational inequality and help their children achieve their dreams. It’s also exciting to see UKRI recognising the role that evaluations of innovative programmes like Parent Power can play in advancing academic knowledge.”