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Jan Sunman

Jan Sunman started her professional career as a social worker specialising in supporting children with mental health needs and their families. Since then, she has volunteered, campaigned and worked in the field of learning disability for 38 years. She campaigned against cuts to short break services for disabled children and their families and spearheaded the foundation of the Chiltern Centre as a charity providing respite care to serve disabled children in South Oxfordshire. The Chiltern Centre continues to support many local families. Jan worked for Royal Mencap Society as a regional development officer and won a Mencap National Partnership Working Award in that role. Later, she helped develop Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN), a local charity for families supporting relatives with learning disabilities. Jan was also a member of the Transforming Care Programme Board in Oxfordshire. She has taken part in training for reviewers for the Learning Disability Mortality Review process. In the past, she has served as a trustee for two national charities, The Royal Mencap Society and NOFAS, a charity dedicated to supporting people affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Jan’s personal experience of the loss of her eldest daughter, Katy, who was disabled and who died prematurely at the age of 25 from sepsis, has made her very aware of the issues families face when a loved one dies in complex and traumatic circumstances. She has worked with a number of families of disabled relatives facing traumatic loss. She has two other children, her daughter Laura is a children’s nurse and her son, Matthew – a steam train addict – has severe learning disabilities and autism.

Making Sense of COVID-19: Sharing Family Experiences of Shielding to Influence Services

3 August 202319 January 2021 by Jan Sunman

I know others have had much harder times than us. The lockdown and shielding made us painfully aware of families who have loved ones who have already had the freedom to meet up and share their lives taken away from them in other ways.

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Getting to know Making Families Count – Jan Sunman

5 September 202317 July 2019 by Jan Sunman

This is the third of a series of blogs in which the members of Making Families Count write about their personal journey and why working with MFC means so much to them.  This blog features MFC Director Jan Sunman. I became involved with Making Families Count, after the death of …

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Making Families Count: Celebrating 10 Years of Impact

This year marks our 10th anniversary. We are reflecting on a decade of dedicated work to improve family engagement and patient safety across health and social care. Explore stories, insights, and reflections from our members and learn more about our journey.

Our 10-Year Journey

New E-Learning Resource

As part of our project “Life Beyond the Cubicle”, we have developed new eLearning resources. Life Beyond the Cubicle helps those working in mental health services and emergency departments to work well with families during a mental health crisis.

A scene from a video segment of

Life Beyond the Cubicle

Recent Posts

  • Media Release: Life Beyond the Cubicle resources
  • Life Beyond the Cubicle: Co-production to develop resources to improve outcomes for people in a mental health crisis
  • New Bespoke Training at Surrey and Borders
  • Trevor Stevens Speaks on Radio 4
  • Making Families Count at RCPCH Annual Conference

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Making Families Count C.I.C. - Company number 11826433
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