Parent Carer Peer Support course

For parents and carers

Our PCPS training course is open to those working or volunteering as parent carer peer support workers, or parents and carers supported by local services who would like to train to become a PCPS worker.

On this page you can find all the information you need if you are interested in our parent carer peer support training. We will help you find out: 

  • If you are eligible
  • Course dates
  • What the training involves
  • How to apply
If you are a service, please scroll down the page to find information about applying as a service. 

Eligibility

We will be accepting joint applications from a parent or carer and an organisation. This is because the work can be challenging as well as rewarding, so, as a parent or carer, it's important to have the support of an organisation behind you.

The parent or carer must have lived experience of supporting a child or young person with mental health issues, and the organisation must support children, young people and/or families to improve their mental and emotional wellbeing. The training is fully funded by NHS England, and a support grant is also available to organisations within England.

Are you a parent or carer who has experience of supporting a child with mental health problems? You may be eligible to apply for a place on our course.

You will need to either be:

  • working or volunteering as a parent carer peer support worker

or

  • A parent carer supported by local services who would like to train to become a parent carer peer support worker

At the Charlie Waller Trust, we believe that every parent or carer should be able to access support from their peers. We believe in the strength that comes from representation of the rich diversity of parent and caring experiences – diversity of family makeup, culture, ethnicity, neurodiversity, sexuality, migration history, disability or faith and we hope to be part of building a peer support community that reflects this diversity. We feel this new emerging workforce deserves expert training and a partnership with professionals.

The training is fully funded by NHS England, and a support grant is also available to organisations within England.

 

Our next course

We are currently planning to run courses in Autumn 2026 and Spring 2027

We will be accepting partnership applications between a parent or carer who has lived experience of supporting a child with mental health issues and a service that supports children, young people and or families to improve their mental and emotional wellbeing from anywhere in the UK.

If you are interested in learning about the next course, please complete our expression of interest form.

I have spoken to several colleagues who attended the PCPS course in previous years and they said it was absolutely fantastic, one of the best courses they had been on, and something so vitally needed by parents and carers. I am very excited to get started in January

PCPS Learner, January Intake

What does the training for parents and carers involve?

  • 7 half day online sessions provided for parents and carers an online platform such as Zoom or Teams
  • Online support and sessions to help parents and carers with the technological aspects of online learning before the course starts
  • 30 hours of self-directed learning on topics relating to the PCPS role – if you haven’t done self- directed learning before don’t worry, there will be additional drop-in support sessions available.  Where the parent or carer is working for a service, line managers must ensure that the learner has protected time to complete the self-directed learning.
  • Each session will be facilitated by a parent or carer with lived experience and a children and young people’s mental health professional
  • Learners will be asked to complete a portfolio of evidence to support learning (this can be done in a style that suits the learner, e.g. talking, writing or visuals)
  • A CPD certificate will be awarded

What will the PCPS course cover?

  • Reflective practice and use of supervision
  • Diversity and inclusion
  • Understanding and navigating the children and young people’s mental health system
  • Managing groups
  • Co-production and the shared lived experience
  • Safety and self-care
  • Endings, transitions and new beginnings
4 cartoon people holding a blue banner which says Parent Carer Peer Support on it

Please find below the commitments and eligibility criteria overview for services and parents and carers.

  • You are a parent or carer who has lived experience of supporting a child or children experiencing mental health difficulties.
  • You will discuss your support needs with your service lead and course tutor prior to the start of the course so that reasonable adjustments can be made as appropriate.
  • You commit to attending the induction sessions and seven half-days online, attending monthly supervision sessions, taking part in 30 hours of self-directed learning and completing a self-reflective portfolio.
  • You are volunteering or working within a children and young people’s mental health service (or are looking to do so); you plan to continue or start providing support to other parents and carers supporting loved ones experiencing mental health difficulties when you have completed the course
  • You have provided a brief written or spoken supporting statement providing evidence of your lived experience as a parent or carer of a child with mental health difficulties, why you want to do this course and how you will use the training.

Download a copy of the commitments and eligibility criteria below:

Download commitments and criteria (PDF)

The LMS is really great, easy to navigate and clear in its instructions.

PCPS Learner, January Intake

Have any questions about the Parent Carer Peer Support training course?

As part of our application period, we run PCPS information sessions. The dates and times for these sessions will be published when the next course application window opens.

Book your place

Want to view the application questions?

To help you to prepare for and structure your responses to your application, below we have provided you with a copy of the grant application questions.

Download a copy of the application questions for parents and carers and services.

Download questions (PDF opens in new tab) Register your interest

Are you a parent and/or carer who would like to help others but haven’t linked with services yet?

We have set out some ideas you might like to consider about how to link up with local services in this downloadable document.  

You can also contact us via the PCPS Training email address if you need further information or guidance. Contact the PCPS training team at pcps.training@charliewaller.org.

We might be able to help, sometimes services are looking for parents and carers in their area to partner with. If you would like us to hold onto your details and provide them to services who ask if we know of parents and carers in their area, please enter your information below:

Complete our Parent Carer Database Form

For services

About the application

We will be accepting joint partnership applications between a parent or carer who has lived experience of supporting a child with mental health issues and a service that supports children, young people and or families to improve their mental and emotional wellbeing from anywhere in the UK.

We are currently planning to run courses in Autumn 2026 and Spring 2027

Register your interest

The communication has all been really clear, so thank you so much for making it so easy

PCPS Service Lead, January Intake

Training for supervisors

Supervision is essential to ensuring that the service offered by the PCPS and the PCPS worker themselves are safe.

Although this is not a clinical role, parents and carers providing support to their peers need case management and agreed support from a clinician. We ask services who come in partnership to confirm that both sorts of supervision are available, and that the clinical supervision is from a qualified mental health professional with direct links to or within local CYPMH systems.  Services may have two people providing supervision, for example from line management as well as clinical supervision, and supervision can be one to one or in groups.

Supervising a PCPS worker is different from supervising a Mental Health professional. The PCPS worker may be working within a service that their child attended, and their experience of the service may be positive or negative. As a new member of the team, PCPS workers will need support to navigate local systems. The supervisor provides an essential bridge to their colleagues to ensure the contribution of the PCPS worker is understood, valued and that the PCPS worker is appropriately supported.

The training will cover how to work with PCPSW’s’ and with other colleagues to maximise the positive experience for all stakeholders. You will be asked to confirm your supervisor’s details when you apply for the course, and the training must be attended.

 

Support for services

We include a ‘kick off’ session for service managers/leads as a mandatory part of the training course. This will be an opportunity to discuss what your learners and supervisors will need as they undergo the training as well as explore together what changes you may need to make to your services to enable this new workforce to thrive. You will be asked to select a date when you apply for the course, and this meeting must be attended by someone in a position to make any changes required in the service. 

 

What sort of supervision does CWT recommend?

PCPS workers require supervision during and after their training whilst undertaking the PCPSW role. Our briefing for services and commissioners sets out the role, and what sort of supervision and clinical support should be in place.

Download the briefing document

Have any questions about applying PCPS training course?

Please reach out to the Programme team by an sending email to pcps.training@charliewaller.org

  • You will support the parent or carer throughout their training journey and beyond to continue to develop parent carer peer support services
  • You will attend one of the service lead meetings to ensure you understand the needs of your PCPS learner on either Tuesday 17th February 1:00 – 2:00pm or Wednesday 11th March 1:00 – 2:00pm
  • You will administer and use the £3305 grant to support the PCPS to participate in the training and to acquire experience of supporting parents and carers. This might include salary costs, backfill, expenses, purchasing resources, and/or IT equipment, buying in supervision if not available in service or in partnership with another service. The grant should be allocated in discussion with the PCPS trainee
  • You will nominate a CYPMH professional supervisor to undertake a half-day supervision training day prior to providing supervision.  If you have two people providing supervision e.g., a clinician and a line manager, they are both welcome to join.
  • You will participate in training evaluation and grant monitoring processes (detailing how the grant instalments are utilised to support the learner and to embed the PCPS worker role with your service)
  • You are a UK children and / or young people’s mental health service provider with the statutory (e.g. NHS or local authority) or voluntary and community sector (VCS) and you offer, or are planning to offer, parent carer peer support.
  • You have all relevant organisational practices in place including insurance, safeguarding policies and financial management.

Download a copy of the commitments and eligibility criteria below:

Download commitments and criteria (PDF)

Want to view the application questions?

To help you to prepare for and structure your responses to your application, below we have provided you with a copy of the grant application questions.

Download a copy of the application questions for parents and carers and services.

Download questions (PDF opens in new tab)