Welcome to the Parents and Carers Network
The Parents and Carers Network provides a welcoming space where colleagues can connect, access support, and share experiences with others who understand the demands and rewards of caring responsibilities.
At Imperial, we recognise the important role that parents and carers play both at home and in the workplace.
These web pages bring together useful information, resources, policies, events, and networking opportunities to support colleagues at every stage of their parenting and caring journey.
By fostering connection, inclusion, and mutual support, we aim to help create an environment where parents and carers can thrive, feel valued, and achieve a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives.
Pages
Meet the team
The Imperial Reward and Benefits Team supports and coordinates the Parents and Carers Network, working closely with our Co-Chairs to deliver initiatives, events, and resources that support the network's members.
The Parents and Carers Network Co-Chairs work together to champion the Network across Imperial. Learn more about them below through their personal profiles, where they share their backgrounds, experiences, and what the network means to them.
Meet the Team
''Staff networks are one of the most effective mechanisms for translating the rhetoric of wellbeing into something that actually works. They show us what people actually need. And it is how change happens from the inside out.''
My name is Madiha, and I currently work as Learning and Development Manager in Imperial's People Function. I have over a decade of experience championing working parents and carers in higher education. Before joining Imperial, I spent more than twelve years at UCL, where I founded the UCL Parents and Carers Together (PACT) network in 2014 and grew it into a thriving community of several hundred members. As Chair of the PACT network, I won the Provost's Excellence Award in 2016, the Excellence Award for Service to Staff in 2017 and received the Outstanding Contribution to Staff Experience award in 2019. I was also honoured with a UCL Excellence Award for exceptional leadership in supporting parents.
As years went on, and I moved to Imperial, I realised that the needs of parents and carers across Higher Education are very similar. This led me to establish the National Network for Parents and Carers in Higher Education, extending peer support across the higher education sector on issues ranging from maternity and fathers' mental health to baby loss, grief, and caring responsibilities.
As the incoming co-chair of Imperial's Parents & Carers Network, I look forward to working with colleagues across Imperial to ensure that parenting or caring responsibilities are never a barrier to thriving at work. The most rewarding part of this work is simple: making a genuine difference to the life of a fellow parent or carer - and I can't wait to do the same at Imperial.
Here's a blog I wrote about the power of institutional staff networks.
I've had the pleasure of working at Imperial College London for over 15 years and currently work as Executive Assistant to the Vice-Provost of Education & Student Experience.
As a full-time working mum and carer, I know how important a supportive community is and understand the everyday challenges of juggling work, family life, and caring responsibilities.
When I'm not working, you'll usually find me making crystal healing jewellery (my spiritual side helps to keep me calm, apparently!), enjoying quality time with my friends, cooking and running around for my massive family. I'm a self-confessed foodie with a particular weakness for desserts, so I love discovering new places to eat, and there’s nothing like hanging out and watching a movie (and the footie!) with my two boys. I love travelling, and though I'm not a fan of the heat in the UK, somehow 40°C in Dubai feels perfectly acceptable!
I'm delighted to join the Parents and Carers Network as a Co-Chair, and I look forward to helping foster a welcoming, supportive community where colleagues can connect, share experiences, and champion one another.