About CLAPA Companions
CLAPA Companions is a ‘pen pal’ scheme connecting young people in the UK, born with a cleft aged 6 – 17 through letters, emails, videos and audio messages.
The messages are sent through CLAPA to keep everyone safe and protect young people’s identities and locations.
Taking part in CLAPA Companions can help young people born with a cleft to:
- Create new friendships and share experiences with other young people born with a cleft
- Feel more positive about their cleft journey
- Increase confidence and reduce feelings of isolation
- Encourage creativity and develop communication skills
- Get involved with other CLAPA support services, like our online events, Children and Young People’s Council (CYPC) and Camp CLAPA Activity Weekends
Who can take part?
Anyone in the United Kingdom aged 6-17 who was born with a cleft lip and/or palate
We welcome children and young people of all backgrounds and abilities.
- There is no requirement to be able to read and write, as we support alternative communication methods such as video and audio messages.
- Language should not be a barrier. We will work with you to ensure that this service is as accessible and flexible as possible.
Please ensure your child is keen to get involved before you sign them up to avoid disappointing potential pen pals.
Cleft isn’t something that runs in our family and we haven’t met any other families with a child with a cleft. It’s been really beneficial and helped my daughter realise she’s not alone.Parent whose child took part in CLAPA Companions
How does CLAPA Companions work?
- Complete the CLAPA Companions registration form. We ask a lot of different questions on this form to make sure we have all the information we need to make a good match. Young people can also sign themselves up using this form, but we need permission from a parent or carer if they are under 13 years old.
- CLAPA matches up two young people of similar ages and interests. Sometimes, it will take a little longer for us to make a match because we want to make sure that we find suitable Penpals. We may need to have a video call with the young person and their parent/carer to help us do this.
- Penpal A sends their first message to CLAPA. We will check it for unsafe content and remove any identifying information such as full names or contact details, then pass this message on to Penpal B.
- Penpal B receives the message and sends CLAPA their reply. CLAPA checks it for unsafe content before passing the reply on to Penpal A.
- Messages continue for six months, or until each Penpal has received five messages.
- Afterwards, CLAPA will ask each Penpal if they would like to keep in touch outside of CLAPA Companions. If both Penpals say yes, CLAPA will share the agreed contact details with the families.
Penpals can sign up to as many ’rounds’ of CLAPA Companions as they like.
Content Restrictions
The name of your child’s school or images which show the school name or logo should not be included.
Reason
To protect the location of the young person.
What to say or send instead
Cover the school name and/or logo in any photos.
Use ‘Primary School’ or ‘Secondary School’ rather than the name of the school itself.
Specific locations such as the name of parks, small villages or other road/place names should not be included.
Reason
To protect the location of the young person.
What to say or send instead
You can mention the county you live in or your nearest city. You can also talk about the name of the hospital/cleft clinics you visit.
Contact details which would allow young people to directly contact each other should not be included, including personal emails, phone numbers, social media profiles, gamer IDs, etc.
Reason
To protect the young person’s identity.
What to say or send instead
It will be at the parent/young person’s discretion as to whether they want to share this information at the end of the ’round’ of CLAPA Companions.
Only the young person’s first name (or nickname) will be shared with their Penpal.
Reason
To protect the young person’s identity.
What to say or send instead
We encourage young people to only use their first name or a nickname that they would prefer. At the end of the round of CLAPA Companions, young people and parents/families can decide to share more personal information.
Videos, photographs or text containing violent or sexual content are not permitted.
Reason
To protect the young person from being exposed to inappropriate content.
What to say or send instead
Ensure that anyone present in photographs or videos are appropriately dressed.
Reason
To protect the young person from being exposed to hurtful or discriminatory language.
What to say or send instead
Use inclusive and sensitive language
Ways to send a message
Get in touch at [email protected] for any further technical assistance with creating or sharing your Penpal messages.
Stick to the trusted and beloved fine art of hand-writing a letter. This may help to improve handwriting skills for the young person and allows for the inclusion of any printed photos or drawings.
It’s fastest if these are scanned and then emailed to us, but you are also welcome to send these by post. If you send letters by post, please ensure you make a copy of the letter before you send it, in the unlikely event it gets lost in the post.
Messages can be posted to:
CLAPA Companions
CLAPA
The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
LONDON
E2 9DA
Send a message at the click of a button with email. This way digital photographs or scanned in artwork or letters can be attached. Or for the real technical wizards, let their imaginations run wild through creating a letter on a different software and sending this as an attachment over email.
Email address: [email protected]
To send a large file, that’s too big to attach to an email, we recommend using one of these two free file-sharing services: One Drive or We Transfer. Here’s a guide to using One Drive and a guide to using We Transfer.
A young person may choose to create a video message to let their personality shine through. We might ask permission to add video captions for those who may be hard of hearing.
Email address: [email protected]
To send a large file, that’s too big to attach to an email, we recommend using one of these two free file-sharing services: One Drive or We Transfer. Here’s a guide to using One Drive and a guide to using We Transfer.
For those that want to talk rather than write, but would prefer not to be on video, an audio message might be the best option. Think of it as creating their very own podcast!
Email address: [email protected]
To send a large file, that’s too big to attach to an email, we recommend using one of these two free file-sharing services: One Drive or We Transfer. Here’s a guide to using One Drive and a guide to using We Transfer.
Talking point tips
Here’s a list of optional talking points for young people that might be of use when creating their messages:
- How old you are
- What makes you, you
- Your favourite sports, games, music, YouTuber, TV show, animals, hobbies
- Somewhere you’ve been on holiday
- Your family, friends, pets
- What you do and don’t like about school
- Something you’ve done that you’re really proud of
- Something you’ve done that was scary
- Something you’ve done that was really fun
- Something you’re looking forward to
- What you want to be when you’re older
- A country you’d love to visit
- A celebrity you’d love to meet
- What type of cleft you were born with and how does it make you feel
- The best thing about you!
Register for CLAPA Companions
Fill in our registration form to sign up your child for CLAPA Companions. Please make sure your child knows about this service and is keen to take part before you register them to avoid disappointment.