Champion effort for parents by volunteers in east Leeds

Three mums from east Leeds have won right royal recognition for their work helping other families in the area.
The East Leeds Parent Champions with the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Jane Dowson.The East Leeds Parent Champions with the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Jane Dowson.
The East Leeds Parent Champions with the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Jane Dowson.

Lindsey Foster, Kyla Jones and Louise McDonagh, all from Seacroft, give up their time to volunteer as East Leeds Parent Champions.

Part of a national programme run by the London-based Family and Childcare Trust, parent champions aim to provide a useful contribution to their local communities by making it easier for mums, dads and carers to access services and opportunities.

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And the impact they have had since signing up as volunteers a year ago was rewarded earlier this week when Lindsey attended a garden party held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Lindsey, 35, said: “It’s good to receive recognition like this.

“We have put a lot of time into networking in Leeds, getting out there and meeting people from different services and groups so we can be as effective as possible in our signposting roles.”

She added: “We are here to listen to parents and feed back issues they raise to relevant services to create social change and make people realise they have a voice and influence.”

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Lindsey, Kyla and Louise’s work was also recognised earlier this year when they won a Family and Childcare Trust award for increasing the local uptake of nursery places for two-year-olds.

Another achievement saw them organising a link-up with a college in Barnsley that led to 24 women and children taking part in a drama course.

For more details about the East Leeds Parent Champions, e-mail [email protected] or visit the group’s Facebook page.

Volunteering opportunities exist with both the East Leeds scheme and the overarching Leeds Parent Champions group.

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