Support for cash-strapped Wiltshire charity helping children
Group providing vital support for families of SEND children boosted by coronavirus fund grant
Last updated 6th May 2021
A Wiltshire charity that provides essential support to families of children with special educational needs and complex disabilities (SEND) has been boosted by a coronavirus fund grant.
Wiltshire Portage has been awarded almost £9,000 from Wiltshire Community Foundation's Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund. The money will cover the costs of a home visitor to do early assessments. The fund has distributed more than £1.1 million through more than 260 grants.
WHAT IS WILTSHIRE PORTAGE?
Wiltshire Portage is a 30-year-old charity that works with 100 children aged up to school age in Salisbury and all over the county. These children have conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, a Learning Disability, Global Development Delay and Prader-Willi Syndrome.
Its ten home visitors, who have up to 12 families on their caseloads every week, help them develop their children's skills and ability through play. But demand is so high there can be up to 90 families on the waiting list.
A waiting list practitioner funded by the community foundation grant works with five families at a time to undertake an initial assessment and provide help over six weeks.
WCF GRANT A 'MASSIVE HELP'
Operations manager Kim Hannay-Young said:
"The grant has been a massive help to us. Without it we wouldn't have been able to run this early assessment so these families would not have been seen and the waiting list would have got bigger and bigger. Having this post means families aren't left in limbo so long and with the early assessments we are able to prioritise the ones who really need help. Hanging around is the worst thing for parents on the list because they are waiting to see where their child is developmentally. At the end of the six weeks all our parents get a report based on the child's strengths and needs as well as ideas and activities to be working on next to bring their child on."
The support worker can refer parents to other agencies, connect them with services such as a disability nurse and provide practical help with things like housing.
Operations manager Kim Hannay-Young also said:
"We can write letters of support for housing. Some families are in private rented homes, social community housing or even military housing and it is not appropriate. We provide supporting evidence to say why it isn't suitable. The in-depth support allows parents to seek other help. "The parents need evidence for when they go for an educational healthcare plan and they need developmental evidence to show how their child is functioning."
Just as important is being there to listen and support parents who often feel alone and disconnected by having a child with a disability or special educational needs. There is also help for siblings.
Kim says that's really important:
"We refer them to Carer Support Wiltshire Once they find a place on the full service, families get weekly visits that set goals to help their children improve day-to-day tasks such as feeding, dressing themselves and becoming more independent. When you are looking at practical skills, such as in feeding and eating, we can build play activities into that, if you wanted to teach a child to feed themselves with a spoon you can do scooping activities because those skills will help when they are feeding."
Kim explained that Wiltshire Council funds the service for 75 children, the shortfall is made up from other grants and fundraising:
"We've not been able to do any fundraising over the last year, we have had events cancelled and others switched online, It has left us with a deficit, which is why this grant is so welcome."
Wiltshire Community Foundation joint chief executive Fiona Oliver said:
"Wiltshire Portage has provided incredible support for its families through lockdown either remotely or face-to-face when it is safe. We are delighted to fund this service because it is a vital lifeline for the families it helps and the fact that there are so many of them on the waiting list shows just how badly need it is."
Find out how to donate to the Wiltshire and Swindon Coronavirus Response Fund or apply for a grant here wiltshirecf.org.uk