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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.
CLAPA’s online events take place on Zoom. Click here to learn more about joining these events.
We hope the information on the rest of this page answers any questions you may have about accessibility, but if you have others, please contact us.
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.
Our online events aim to be safe spaces where you can share your experiences and ask questions with others.
However, you are also welcome to come along and just listen in if you 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.
Your safety is always of importance at our online events, and we take safeguarding very seriously.
You can help us to keep everyone, including yourself, safe by following these tips when taking part in CLAPA’s online events.
- We hope you may make new connections at our events, but please be careful about sharing personal details and/or deciding to meet up in person.
- We hope you will take an active role at our events, but please only share what you are comfortable sharing.
- Take breaks as and when you need to.
- Let us know if there is anything we can do to make this event more accessible and welcoming for you.
- Let us know if you wish to be removed from any ‘screenshots’ taken at any online event.
- Let us know if you have any concerns about any other event attendees.
- Please let other household members know you are on a video call. It is fine for young children to run around, etc., but we ask that anyone who can be seen in the video is appropriately dressed.
- Please do not send the Zoom link to anyone, as we need to ensure we have records of everyone who is attending our sessions.
- Please be mindful when you are on a video call that all the other attendees can see you when your camera is on. Please consider what is in the background and ensure there is nothing with personal information e.g. your address or family photographs. You will be able to preview your video before you join the call.
Blur your background before a meeting
- Sign in to the Zoom desktop app.
- Click your profile picture, then click Settings.
- In the navigation menu, click Backgrounds & effects.
- Click the Virtual Backgrounds tab.
Note: If you do not have the Virtual Background tab and you have enabled it on the web portal, sign out of the Zoom desktop app and sign in again. - Click Blur.
- Your background will become blurred behind you, obscuring your surroundings.
Note: You can remove the virtual background by choosing None.
Enable blurred background during a meeting
- Join a Zoom meeting or a webinar as a panellist from your Zoom desktop app.
- In the bottom-left corner of the video window, click the arrow icon next to Start Video / Stop Video .
- If there’s no checkmark next to Blur my background, click it.
Note: You can remove the virtual background by clicking Blur my background while a checkmark is next to it.
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.
Keeping CLAPA event attendees safe
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.
We also take extra steps to keep children and young people safe at our events. Read more about these.
Events for everyone
CLAPA runs ‘Question and Answer’ events (Q&As) on topics where hearing from an expert is important, such as research projects or specific areas of cleft care.
These Q&As are streamed live onto CLAPA’s Facebook page (link) through Facebook Live. You don’t need to be logged into Facebook to watch these live streams, nor do you need to ‘Like’ our page, but if you do then you’ll be alerted when a live stream is about to start.
We typically ask for questions to be submitted in advance and will post a simple, anonymous form on our Facebook Groups, as well as from the Events page (link). You can also ask questions during the stream itself, but you must be logged in and ‘like’ our page to do this.
These live Q&As generally feature a CLAPA volunteer or staff member asking questions of an expert on the topic, such as a surgeon or a cleft researcher. The expert will do their best to answer in a way that is helpful and accessible to the cleft community.
You can watch previous Q&As on our Facebook page or on our Vimeo page. We aim to upload a new version of the video with subtitles or transcripts once these have been completed; typically a few weeks later.
With these Q&As, we hope to make cleft care and research more transparent and easier to access for people affected by cleft. If you have an idea for a Q&A topic we could cover in the future, please get in touch at [email protected]
Events for parents, carers and families
CLAPA’s Coffee Clubs are a place for people affected by cleft lip and palate to share questions, concerns, stories, experiences, and whatever else is on their minds.
They are organised around different topics such as feeding, surgery and diagnosis to help people meet and talk with others with similar experiences, or who are at a similar place in their cleft journey.
These events are hosted by CLAPA volunteers, with a member of CLAPA staff or volunteer Facilitator also in attendance. The host will help to guide the discussion and make sure the atmosphere remains supportive, but otherwise, Coffee Clubs are loosely structured to allow the free flow of conversation.
If you have particular questions around the topic you know you’d like to raise, you can state these in the event sign-up form to make sure they’re addressed during the event. You can also email the event organiser in advance, or even contact the event host using the chat function during the event itself.
Everyone is welcome to join the discussion when they have something to add, but you are also very welcome to just listen in on the discussion with your camera on or off. There is no pressure put on any individual attendees to talk at any point during the event. You will not be asked to introduce yourself, but you are free to do so in the chat if you would like.
Discussions may touch on sensitive issues and attendees may get emotional as a result. Coffee Clubs are a safe and supportive space where everyone should feel free to express themselves and their concerns without fear of judgement. We ask everyone attending our Coffee Clubs to remain respectful, supportive and empathetic towards other attendees throughout, and to contact the host via the chat function if they have any concerns about this.
We also ask that you respect the privacy of all attendees by treating any information revealed in sessions as confidential. We hope this will ensure that everyone feels comfortable talking openly during the sessions.
Creative CLAPA sessions are informal, accessible skill-sharing events designed to create conversation through creativity.
Each session features a different creative activity such as drawing or painting, but you don’t need any prior skill or practice to take part. Our volunteer will take you through the creative process to reach a beautiful outcome while you chat about your own experiences with cleft or just listen in to others. There will be a slide show with instructions as well as a live demonstration for you to follow and you will be given a list of equipment needed for each session so you can make sure you have everything to hand.
These themed sessions are designed for different parts of the cleft community, so check individual event listings for more information.
These are a short run of 6 or so regular events designed to teach you (and/or your child) a new skill. To sign up, you need to commit to attending every session in the mini-course.
Run by volunteers, these mini-courses are an informal, friendly space to learn something new and meet others affected by cleft who are at a similar point in their journey. Seeing the same faces week after week is a great way to make connections and build friendships.
We’re currently trying out this format with a ‘Baby Signing’ mini-course, and we hope to announce more like this in the future.
Look out for individual courses to find out more about the age range and what’s needed to take part.
It was nice to talk to a parent of a child with a cleft lip as I got to ask questions. It was also interesting to have an adult on the session who had recovered from a cleft lip and you could see the amazing progress she had made. It was a lovely friendly atmosphere and the coordinator was so kind and thoughtful.Expectant parent who attended a CLAPA event
Events for adults born with a cleft
The CLAPA Lounge is an online social event aimed at adults born with a cleft. Each session on Zoom is a safe space where adults may share thoughts and feelings, and provides opportunities to build confidence and knowledge through sharing experiences.
Starting in Autumn 2021, we began hosting a series of live ‘Employment Webinars’ on our CLAPA Facebook Group.
These webinars are aimed at adults born with a cleft who may be looking to start their employment journey, who may have just joined a new workplace, or who are already in employment and want to gain some extra knowledge or find out more about dealing with difficult situations.
We focus on a different topic each month, starting with CV writing and applying for jobs, then preparing for interviews and interview techniques, preparing for your first day, and rights at work which will include dealing with difficult situations.
These sessions were held on Zoom and streamed to our CLAPA Facebook Group.
CLAPA hosts an annual day of in-person talks, workshops and discussions for adults born with a cleft.
The conference usually takes place in the early summer. Details of the 2026 event will be announced soon.
[What I enjoyed most about the event was] the interesting information and openness of the participants. Everyone was so caring. It was very emotional hearing people’s experiences and concerns on the subject of returning to cleft care. The attitude of everyone present was so caring and heartfelt. It was amazing.Adult who attended a 'CLAPA Lounge' event
Events for children and young people born with a cleft
Our Chat and Chill series of events are hosted by young people from CLAPA’s Children and Young People’s Council. They begin with a question and answer session, and after taking a break, your hosts will run games and activities in smaller groups.
Topics we talk about:
Alveolar Bone Graft surgery
Braces
Going back to school and dealing with change
Dealing with questions and negative comments
Making friends
These events bring young people together to meet, share experiences, and enjoy fun sessions in a safe and supportive environment. We hope to help you build self-confidence while making friends and learning about others’ experiences.
A health professional from a cleft team will usually join us. Who joins the session will depend on the topic, but it will usually be a Cleft Specialist Orthodontist, Psychologist, or a Cleft Surgeon. Volunteers born with a cleft also join in with activities and support sessions. They will usually share a bit about themselves and the type of cleft they have. They often love to chat, and you can ask them questions if you would like to.
Camp CLAPA Weekends are a chance for you to meet and spend time with other young people born with a cleft in a safe and supportive space.
Our weekends are packed with outdoor activities and personal/team challenges, with plenty of opportunities to get to know each other and build friendships. Volunteers born with a cleft support the weekends (alongside CLAPA staff), and they will be happy to share their experiences and join in with activities.
Keeping children and young people safe at CLAPA events
All CLAPA staff and volunteers running online events for children and young people have completed child protection training and are trained in how to safeguard children and young people from harm.
To reduce online risks as much as possible, CLAPA staff leading an event will carry out a thorough risk assessment of each activity.
In particular, we will think about how to cover ground rules with the group and make sure everyone understands appropriate behaviours and what to do if they are worried about something or someone.
We will also think carefully about staff and volunteer supervision of online break out rooms.
CLAPA records online events with children and young people. This is to keep all young people, staff and volunteers to safe. Keeping a record of the conversations taking place online allows us to refer back to this if there are any concerns during or after the event.
Recordings will be stored securely for six months and deleted thereafter. The recording will not be used in any other way.
It is important that we have parental or carer consent for young people under the age of 18 to take part in our events. This is why we ask particular questions in our signup form.
Under 18s: we need consent to take part from a parent/carer of all under 18s. For 13-18 year olds, a parent or carer does not need to be present during online events as long as we have prior, written consent.
Under 13s: as well as written consent to take part, we also need further confirmation that a parent/carer is aware that their under 13 is joining us for an online event. This is because under 13s cannot give their consent to take part in the eyes of the law, so we need to see a parent/carer on screen at the beginning of the event. A parent/carer must ‘drop the young person off’ on screen and then must stay within the home for the entire event.
If a parent/carer is not able to ‘drop off’ their under 13-year-old at the start of the event and remain at home throughout the entire event, they unfortunately will not be able to take part.
This is for legal reasons and is a safeguarding measure to keep under 13’s safe online.
All CLAPA staff and volunteers are trained in CLAPA’s safeguarding processes and how to deal with a concern about a young person, which may occur during an online event.
Concerns would be passed to the event lead (a CLAPA staff member) and dealt with appropriately. Depending on the level of concern, this will either involve a private follow up conversation with the young person at the end of the event or, if the concern is immediate, a private conversation during the event in a different online room.
Appropriate action would then be taken and concerns would be shared with CLAPA’s safeguarding team to decide on next steps.
Joining events on Zoom
Zoom allows people to set up and join ‘meetings’ by video over the internet. Most of CLAPA’s online events are run using Zoom.
Zoom works best if you have a laptop, tablet or smartphone which has a camera and microphone built-in, or a desktop computer that has a webcam and microphone attached.
You don’t need to set up a Zoom account to join a meeting or event, but you do need to download and install the app or software beforehand. To do this, visit the Zoom download centre and click on the appropriate link for your device.
If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, you should use the first download link under ‘Zoom Client for Meetings’. If you’re using a tablet or smartphone, scroll down to find the links to the App Store and Google Play.
You can also ‘dial in’ to meetings and events using a phone number with a landline or mobile phone, just like you would for a conference call. If you do this, you don’t need to download anything in advance.
If you’re nervous about using Zoom for the first time, we recommend you try it out in advance by joining a test meeting. This will let you join an empty test room and become familiar with how everything works with no pressure.
To join one of CLAPA’s online events, you need to click the linknwhich we’ll email to you a few hours before your event.
This will be sent to the same email address with which you signed up to the event. If you can’t see this link an hour or so before the event, please check your junk or spam folder. If you still don’t have the email, visit our events page to find the relevant event and email the contact listed in the event description.
In this email, we’ll include the meeting ID and passcode, as well as telephone numbers for those joining via telephone.
Joining via telephone
Dial the telephone number listed in the email.
Please note that sometimes the default phone numbers are based in the USA, which can be very expensive to call. In the email, there will be a link to find a more local phone number.
When you dial one of these numbers, you will be given instructions on how to join using the meeting ID and passcode listed in the email.
Joining with your PC, laptop or mobile device
When you click the link in the email, Zoom will start. You may need to click ‘agree’ or ‘allow’ on a message to let Zoom open on your device.
Before you join, Zoom will show a preview of your video. You can choose to join with your video on, or to join without your video.
Once you’re in the meeting, you can turn your video and/or audio off at any time by clicking the buttons shown below. We recommend keeping yourself muted when you are not speaking, as seen here.
Join a test meeting in advance by visiting zoom.us/test. This will let you join an empty meeting where you can test the audio and video settings and become comfortable with how Zoom works.
If you would like to try out Zoom with one of our staff before the event and learn a little more about what to expect, please get in touch with the event organiser.
Closed captioning is available at all of CLAPA’s meetings and events. These captions are generated automatically and may not always be accurate.
To enable closed captions, click the three dots for ‘more’ in the Zoom toolbar, then ‘Captions’, then ‘Show Captions’.
Feedback and suggestions
All of our events have been created with the input of the UK cleft community. If you have any feedback or suggestions to help make our events better or more accessible, we would love to hear from you.