Welcome to PaCC’s September 2026 Round-Up
The small PaCC team and steering group reps have returned to work after the summer holidays, and we are delighted to welcome a new member of the team.
Introducing Alison Cunningham
We’re really pleased to welcome Alison Cunningham to the PaCC team. Alison has recently joined us as our new Co-production, Engagement and Communications Co-ordinator, and she’s looking forward to getting to know the areas of work that PaCC does in the city.
Alison brings lots of experience from her work with charities including NSPCC, Childline and Chailey Heritage Foundation. At Chailey Heritage Foundation, she worked alongside parent carers to help share their stories and experiences. She has also supported children with SEND in a local school.
Most importantly, Alison is keen to listen, learn and build connections with parent carers.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting parent carers and listening to their lived experience, so that we can ensure their voices are heard and that action is taken to meet their children’s and families’ needs.”
Please do say hello if you meet Alison at one of our events or out and about in the community.
PaCC are preparing for a busy Autumn term, areas of work include –
PaCC Social media refresh- communicating with our community
As part of Alison’s new role, she’ll be looking at how PaCC communicates with our community of parent carers and how we can make sure the information we share is useful, accessible and reflects what parent carers want and need.
Keep an eye on our social media for opportunities to have your say. We’ll be asking what you find helpful and informative, as well as what you’d like to see more of from PaCC.
In the meantime, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions about how we communicate, we’d love to hear from you. You can email Alison at
Join our PaCC Facebook Group to connect with other parent carers here
Join our PaCC Facebook Page to find out about PaCC events and news here
BHCCs Proposed Closure of Wellington House
PaCC are fully aware of the communities concerns re the proposed closure of Wellington House Day service, an in-house (run by Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC)) Day Service provision for adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism.
PaCC have been heavily involved in representing parent carers views on this important issue. Read the PaCC Consultation report here
and a follow up report that was prepared ahead of the Scrutiny Committee held on Friday 4th September. Read the report here
Brighton & Hove SEN Sufficiency Plan 2026 -2029
The SEN Sufficiency Plan has been published for families to read here
PaCC are in talks with Education leads in the Local Authority to organise meetings for parent carers who would like to find out more about the development of education provision in the city. PaCC are aware that families want to understand what provision and educational support is
being developed for neurodivergent Children and Young People who have profiles broader than autism.
Autism in schools
The Autism in Schools (AIS) work continues at some of the schools in Brighton and Hove. You can read more about the project here. Brighton and Hove Inclusion Support Service (BISS) will be producing information for families to help their child or young person in school and these practical resources will be uploaded onto the PaCC website in due course.
Rocking an Extra Chromosome!
T21 Brighton & Hove is a parent run support group spanning our city, surrounding villages & towns, dedicated to giving support to families who have children and young people with Trisomy 21 aka Down
Syndrome, or who are expecting a baby with this condition. We formed in 2011, and we currently have around 250 members, with loved ones aged from ‘Bumps’ to adults in their 40s. We are proud to be a PaCC Partner and represent and advocate for the specific needs of our families at a local SEND operational level through our Rep work.
Our ethos is to welcome new families and provide a safe online forum (our Facebook closed page) where families can share their experiences, give each other advice, support, & form friendships. We are also very happy to arrange a ‘quieter hello’ for parents who are new to the journey, or new to the city, helping them find their feet and signposting them to the right support for their unique circumstances.
We run regular meet ups for parents with their babies/pre-schoolers as a friendship springboard.
We have funding for families who want to organise smaller social outings to build their child’s friendships and we encourage older teens and young adults with T21 to ask us if they’ve got an idea for a social and would like a little financial support.
We have casual meet ups outdoors in the summer and we always celebrate World T21/Down Syndrome Day on or around March 21st, with a big party for our Loved Ones and their family and friends. We’ll share details in due course!
We will also be organising some parents-only socials across the year.
So whether you have just had a baby with T21 or are new to the area or have an older child or young adults, please do join our page, and look out for the group’s next get together, or contact us by email. We are here and a warm welcome awaits! ☺️
Pippa Hodge
T21 Brighton & Hove
Email us: [email protected]
Find us: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19evaUyb2u/?mibextid=wwXIfr