{"id":6262,"date":"2021-09-09T09:23:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/?p=6262"},"modified":"2021-09-09T09:23:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T08:23:22","slug":"creating-the-new-staff-parents-and-carers-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/creating-the-new-staff-parents-and-carers-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating the new Staff Parents and Carers Network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To all\u202fCCCU\u202fstaff who have parental and caring responsibilities,\u202fI am\u202fexcited\u202fto\u202fintroduce\u202fthe new CCCU\u202fStaff\u202fParents\u202fand Carers\u202fNetwork.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\u202fexplain how the idea came about,\u202fI thought it might be useful to write this blog and provide my personal experience and story which led\u202fme here.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I started working at CCCU three years ago, as part of the People, Culture and Inclusion Team. I worked Monday\u202fto\u202fFriday, 37 hours a week and I travelled every day into\u202fthe office\u202f50\u202fminutes each way (40\u202fminutes if\u202fthe\u202ftraffic was good) and I spent the day focused on work (and a little bit\u202fdaydreaming about what I would buy for lunch at Waitrose). Then a year into the role, I\u202ffell\u202fpregnant\u202fand\u202f9 months later went on maternity leave\u202ffor a year\u202fto welcome my first child into the world.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout my pregnancy, maternity leave and returning\u202fto work\u202fI\u202ffelt\u202f100% supported by my team.\u202fAfter a wonderful year away settling into parenthood, I came back to work 22.5 hours a week, working from home (pandemic related) and with a one-year-old son pottering about in the other room (with adult supervision of course!).\u202fHowever,\u202feven with\u202fthe\u202fteam\u202fsupport,\u202fchildcare and\u202fno commuting,\u202fthe reality of transitioning from a full-time employee with no\u202fparental\u202fresponsibilities,\u202fto a part-time employee and mum was not as easy as I imagined.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mothers<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My expectations of how I would be at work were far from the reality\u202f-\u202fI assumed I would begin working each day and\u202fbe able to\u202fswitch off\u202ffrom\u202fparenting,\u202fand I also\u202fexpected to\u202fpick up at the\u202fpace I was used to before.\u202fYes,\u202fthe pandemic has not\u202fhelped the situation, but what I didn\u2019t\u202fconsider\u202fwas that\u202fmy mind was no longer\u202foccasionally distracted by thoughts\u202fabout Waitrose lunches\u202for fully engaged\u202fin my\u202fwork.\u202fI was often drawn to thoughts of my son. I also didn\u2019t\u202fmentally adjust\u202fto being part-time\u202fstraight away\u202fand couldn\u2019t understand why some tasks were taking me longer than used to or why,\u202fat times,\u202fthe days were whizzing\u202fby,\u202fand I wasn\u2019t even\u202fhalfway\u202fthrough my \u2018to do\u2019 list.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It made me think about others who are in similar situations\u202f-\u202fthose\u202fexpecting a child, coming back from parental leave, full-time working parents, grandparents, carers\u202fetc.\u202fI began thinking how lovely it would be to\u202fbuild a community\u202fwith\u202fstaff members\u202fhere at CCCU\u202fso we can connect and support each other.\u202fThat\u2019s\u202fhow the\u202fCCCU\u202fStaff\u202fParents\u202fand Carers\u202fNetwork\u202fidea\u202fcame about.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\u202fwhat does the network look like?\u202fWell,\u202fthat is up to\u202fus!\u202fIt is important that\u202fwe build the\u202fnetwork together, by sharing ideas, stories and knowledge.\u202fIt\u202fwill\u202fbe open\u202fto\u202fall\u202fstaff\u202fwho identify as a\u202fparent\/guardian\/carer for another individual\/s.\u202fWhether you are a grandparent, foster parent, carer for an elderly relative or partner, step-parent\u202for child minder, this network will welcome all\u202f?.\u202fSo\u202fwe want to know what this looks like\u202ffor you,\u202fso we\u202fcan tailor meeting\u202ftopics, resources\u202fetc\u202fto what we need.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Inter-racial<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Mother<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Father<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Grandparents<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Dads<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you are interested in joining the Network and have ideas about what would be useful, please complete the CCCU\u202fStaff\u202fParents\u202fand Carers Network Suggestions\u202fQuestionnaire<\/a>\u202fby\u202fFriday 24th<\/sup>\u202fSeptember, 5pm<\/strong>.\u202fOnce we have an idea of how the Network will look, we will host\u202fan\u202fintroductory meeting\u202fin October.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am really looking forward to meeting\u202fyou all\u202fsoon\u202f?\u202fand starting the\u202fCCCU Staff\u202fParents and Carers Network journey together!\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Meadows\u202f<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To all\u202fCCCU\u202fstaff who have parental and caring responsibilities,\u202fI am\u202fexcited\u202fto\u202fintroduce\u202fthe new CCCU\u202fStaff\u202fParents\u202fand Carers\u202fNetwork.\u202f  To\u202fexplain how the idea came about,\u202fI thought it might be useful to write this blog and provide my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136217,"featured_media":6265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[989,93],"tags":[1050,1045,1046],"class_list":["post-6262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inclusion","category-wellbeing","tag-carers","tag-network","tag-parent"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t