On 5^th June we had a Pregnancy to Parenthood day out to Leeds. This was a great way for me be able to bond with Rohan as a colleague, as I don’t cope well with change. Until this year, it was me Alyson and Tracy as the Pregnancy to Parenthood team. I think it helps Rohan and I having our time with Advocacy Matters in common.

We were invited by the University of Leeds to do a talk about our Pregnancy to Parenthood project. We got the coach up to Leeds. I met Rohan at Birmingham coach station. We were both really excited and honoured to be asked by Leeds University to speak at their knowledge exchange event as part of their ‘My first 1000 days’ project.

We were invited by Professor Angharad Beckett and Anna Miller, research fellow for the ‘My first 1000 days’ project.

We were so warmly welcomed when we arrived at the event. ‘This must be our colleagues from CASBA!’ was the greeting and then they offered us food and drink and asked how our journey was.

I did our Pregnancy to Parenthood presentation going and talked about my experiences of being a parent with a learning disability. Rohan talked through the cooking workshops that we did on the project, and we also showed our easy read cards that we use in group.

It was so lovely meeting other professionals and learning about their work. We got lots of ideas that we can use with the work that we do with parents.

It was a very long day, being at the coach station for about 8.30am and getting back about 7.30pm, but it was a really worthwhile day and a successful one. As a thank you, the university have given us a £100 amazon gift voucher.

Thank you to Angharad and the team for inviting us and for making us feel so warmly welcomed. We really look forward to working with you in the future when you come to Selly Oak.

Jennifer Brown

Our Pregnancy to Parenthood Project is supported by The National Lottery Community Fund.