About CLAPA Events
About CLAPA’s Events
CLAPA’s events are a way to help you connect, share experiences, and find support and information. They are open to people affected by cleft living in the United Kingdom.
Most of our events are led by volunteers with personal experience with cleft lip and palate. Events are designed to support families and individuals at different stages of their cleft journey. Some events are run by professionals within NHS cleft teams and are designed to support the information and services provided by local cleft teams. We also have events that are themed around specific skills or activities led by professionals in that field—for example, virtual massage sessions.
If you have any suggestions for future events, please get in touch.
Access Needs
We want our online events to be inclusive to everyone. If you have any access needs which our online events do not currently meet, please let us know, and we will do everything we can to make sure you can attend. You can use the contact details on the event page or contact us directly.
You may find our information about joining virtual events useful.
Joining the Conversation
Our online events aim to be safe spaces where you can share your experiences and ask questions with others. However, attendees are also welcome to come along and listen in if they feel more comfortable doing so. Everyone is welcome to turn off their video and/or microphone at any point.
If there is something you would like to contribute but would rather not say out loud, you can message the event host using the chat function on Zoom. If you want to remain anonymous, please say so in your message.
Raising an issue
Most of our online events are led by CLAPA volunteers, with a CLAPA staff member or volunteer Facilitator in attendance to ensure things run smoothly and keep everyone safe. If at any point during the event you have a question, feel uncomfortable, or want to raise an issue, the session leaders will be happy to help. You can send them a private message using the Zoom function, and they will discuss the most appropriate way forward with you.
Safeguarding
We take the safety and well-being of everyone who uses our services very seriously. This is why we take many extra precautions during events, such as asking people to display their names on Zoom or asking a parent/carer to ‘drop off’ their child at the start of events. By following the instructions, we give for joining events, and by reporting anything you think may be wrong, you’re helping us keep everyone safe.
As part of our commitment to safeguarding, there may be times when we have a responsibility to report concerns to local safeguarding bodies or authorities like the police. We will always explain this first unless we believe doing so would put someone at risk of harm. Read more.
How we keep children and young people safe at events
Giving feedback
Your feedback directly shapes the events we organise. Whether you loved an event or thought we could do better, we want to hear from you.
Please help us improve by completing any feedback forms you’re sent after the event or by letting us know directly by emailing [email protected] or filling in our contact form if you’d rather do this anonymously.