Community Corner
DCPP (Derby) - our regular spotlight on a grassroots VCSE organisation in the perinatal mental health sector
What is the name of your organisation and when did you set up?
Derby Community Parent Programme CIC (DCPP). The programme was established in 2016 and previously sat within another organisation. After some wider changes and the programme growing from strength to strength, DCPP ‘lifted and shifted’ to become an independent community interest company in June 2021.
What prompted you to set up in the first place?
We have been involved with DCPP from the get-go in 2016 and have been a key part of the programme’s growth and development. When a wider business decision came to no longer seek funding for the service, our volunteers became our squad and encouraged us to not give up. We sought permissions to lift and shift the service and secured funding to do this… and here we are!
Where are you based?
We are based within Derby.
What services do you offer and who do you support?
Derby Community Parent Programme (DCPP) carefully recruits and trains volunteers with lived experience to support expectant and new parents in Derby. This support is delivered on a 1-1 basis and via the community using online platforms, outreach, coffee mornings and peer support delivered directly at Royal Derby Hospital on the pre and postnatal ward, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, antenatal clinics, and The Beeches Mother & baby mental health unit.
What do you find most rewarding about running your service?
We absolutely love being immersed in the communities of Derby. Having both started as volunteers with a passion for supporting expectant and new parents, it feels so great to be leading an organisation that facilitates connection between parents and their community, by providing access to safe & effective peer support.
How might it be helpful to you and your organisation to come together as a wider VCS perinatal mental health community & work more closely?
It is always beneficial to learn from other organisations and reflect on what works well and explore new ideas together. It also really helps us to see how we the support we provide connects to and supports the plans for perinatal support on a wider, national level.
It also helps to access peer support from those who are navigating similar challenges to us!
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice when starting-up, what would it be?
“Surround yourselves with people who support you and value your passion.”
If money and resources were no issue and you could wave a magic wand and change any part of your service - what would you change and why?
We constantly change and reflect on our service anyway, it’s such an essential part of getting it right for the communities we support. If money and resources were not an issue, we would be able to put our ideas into action and create a host of ways for people to access perinatal peer support!
If you could give all parents a super-power what would that be and why?
Being a parent is a super-power in itself 😊
Anything you’d like to tell us about your service or organisation? Any recent wins or things to celebrate?
Our volunteers are something special! They jump through numerous hoops and 26 weeks of training in order to become part of the DCPP team, when they’re on call to support at birth they commit to being on call 24hours, 7days a week for 4 weeks! They’re an amazing bunch and the world deserves to meet them!
Our volunteers won NHS Unsung Hero of the Year Award 2020 and featured in the ITV Sheridan Smith documentary “Becoming Mum”. They also won a Beacon of Hope Award during the pandemic.