Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum
Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum
admin@lincspcf.org.uk LPCF, PO Box 1183,
Spalding, PE11 9EE
Registered Charity No. 1141060 * ICO Registration Z1810966
LPCF Achievements
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2023
LPCF Parents Voice
July to September 2023
Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care etc.In this edition we have a new page titled "Feedback on your Feedback". This is where we invite organisations and services to provide a response to the feedback that we gather from parents over the course of the previous 3 months.
Hopefully by them providing a response to LPCF, parents will be able to see how by being part of LPCF they are helping to make a difference.
Thank you to Liaise, the children and young people's programme manager for the NHS Integrated care board and Sandhills Nursery setting for responding to us.
In this edition we have lots of comments on the following:-
We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.
The July to September 2023 report can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.
Life Hacks for coping with change
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With Hil Gibb
16th November 2023
As a prelude to the new series of "Juggling the Joys of Parenting" which will be starting again in January, LPCF & Hil presented a workshop on "Life Hacks for coping with change" which gave participants strategies to add to their toolkit for coping with change.
Participants contributed in person or on the chat to the discussion and Hil gave examples of using these strategies in every day life.
One parent commented "I have learnt how important it is to think about our reaction to a situation. It also helped having a discussion about how others see situations differently. Knowing how to use the strategies for myself and my child's benefit has been really useful". Thank you Hil.
LPCF SEND Survey for parents and SENCo
What have we done with the findings?
Jan-April 2023
LPCF have now presented the findings of the 2023 surveys to the SEND Health committee, the Directorate Leadership Team and the SEND Steering group in a bid to improve the provision, quality , accessibility and range of services for children and young people in Lincolnshire.Any feedback from the committee will be published on the website and in the LPCF parents voice reports.
See the link for the survey findings
Representing Parents
New page on the LPCF website
Ever wondered what LPCF volunteers are doing behind the scenes? If the answer is yes you will be interested in the new page on our website called "Representing parents".
This is where you can read about the meetings that our volunteers attend so you can see the vast and diverse range of meetings of service providers.
LPCF Volunteers attend the meetings to ensure that the views of the membership, which are regularly collected through various means are represented at meetings of service providers.
This ensures that your voices are heard.
If you want to find out more then see the information portal or the Annual Report which explains the work of LPCF in more detail.
Max Card Feedback
New Facility on the website
In response to LPCF needing feedback from the use of Max cards for our grant funders, our web designer has developed an easy to use system for recording feedback.
This is really helpful not only for LPCF as evidence that parents are using the cards and how they are finding them, but also to develop a repository of feedback so parents can quickly find ideas of where to use them.
LPCF have also added a scoring system so parents have a quick guide to the venues and whether they were SEND friendly.
A big thank you to the parents who took the time to help LPCF develop the catorgories for scoring the venues.
Please give us your honest feedback.
If you want to find out more then see the Max Card page > Max Card Repository on the Information portal.
Volunteer Information & Engagement Day
2nd October 2023
LPCF held its October Volunteer/Trustee Information and engagement day in person at the Old Kings Head in Kirton.
Trustees and volunteers welcomed a new volunteer to the fold and informed her of the work of the Charity with a view to her joining us in the near fuuture.Volunteer and Trutees then joined together to discuss the priorities of the Charity and the work to represent the views of parent carers on the membership.
The team were given the usual update on the meetings that volunteers and trustees have been attending and the outcomes that have been achieved.
The LPCF Survey was discussed and the fact that the findings were soon to be presented to the appropriate overarching groups in Education , Health & Social Care.
A list of diary dates was also discussed.
Thanks was expressed by the Chair to the team for all their hard work in supporting parents of children with SEND in Lincolnshire. An enjoyable lunch followed!
SEND Workforce Development - E-Learning
Parental Access
30th October 2023
For a while now LPCF have been involved with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and partners in developing access to core induction skills and knowledge modules of learning for Special School and Mainstream staff.
This was through our involvement alongside partners in the 5 year Special School strategy.
During the process LPCF suggested that the training provided should not be restricted to staff but should also be made available to parents as part of the E-Learning process.
LCC have had the foresight, in the spirit of co-production, to accept this and approve parents access to complete the seven modules available:-
To access the training parents need to be members of LPCF - please sign up here
To read more about this exciting opportunity for parents please see the Workforce Development E- learning for parents icon on the Information portal
Study Skills and Revision Strategies
9th October 2023
In partnership with LPCF, Odette and Jane from the Specialist Teaching Team (LCC) delivered a workshop for parents and their children with SEND about Study Skills and Revision strategies.
The interactive session gave attendees a chance to ask on the chat about the difficulties they were experiencing and gain some useful strategies and techniques to explore after the workshop.
One parent commented "Wow! I have learned so much and the timing was brilliant as I have one child in year 11 right now panicking about her exams this year and another child struggling in year 8.
So much useful information that will work with both children. The visual learning will really be key and as they both enjoy drawing and mind maps this is perfect. All the different ideas to help with memory recall and the practical session with recalling a list of items using firstly their own memory and then the visualisation was like a light bulb moment for my son. He is so used to doing poorly with his memory and he was so pleased he remembered all but 1 item with the visualisation technique second time around. He feels so happy and positive now as he has practiced it practically. I really feel this is a turning point, what a difference this will make.
Footnotes will also work very well with my son as he loves to write stories and comics with pictures so this will tap into his natural interests and enjoyment and he doesn't enjoy writing.
I’m absolutely going to research the books spoken about".
Please see the report for more feedback.
Promoting Positive Behaviour Workshop
4th October 2023
In partnership with LPCF, Chris from Aspens delivered a workshop for parents and professionals about promoting positive behaviour.During the two hour workshop Chris covered:-
- Common Causes
- Behaviour as a form of communication and how to establish what they are saying
- High Levels of anxiety & behaviours of concern
- What are behaviours and behaviours of concern
- Putting a plan in place and how to help
One parent commented "The presenter was fantastic and explained things in a way I really understood- the structure was excellent. It was useful to hear other peoples’ experiences. It made me really happy the amount of time and effort the team put in to answering peoples’ questions over specifics. My first LPCF session and it was so professional whilst being supportive and understanding. Genuinely so impressed and hope you guys get funding for many years to come.
A professional commented "Just a fantastic course for both parents and professionals I will be sign-posting my colleagues and parents to attend the session. So very useful so please I was able to attend. If there is a certificate this would be good for my professional development.
LPCF's Parents Voice
April to June 2023
Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care, Covid- 19 etc.In this bumper edition we have the announcement of the nominations for LPCF excellence awards and lots of comments about waiting times and access to professionals plus parents views on:-
We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.
The April to June 2023 report can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.
LPCF SEND Survey for parents and SENCo
Results published
Jan-April 2023
A big thank you to those of you who took part in our 2023 survey.The results have now been published and are available on the library page of our website or by clicking this link Thank you to the many parents who completed the survey and for giving us their views on the services their families receive.
Also thank you to the many SENCos who took time out to complete the survey.
Don't forget school may wish to use your participation as evidence, to Ofsted of your establishments engagement with parent carers of children with SEND.
LPCF Wellbeing sessions
May - July 2023
A series of "virtual" Wellbeing sessions with Nicole from Hummingbird Hypnotherapy.
After the success of our last series of Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole, members of LPCF were excited to start on the next series commencing in May 2023.
These sessions were kindy grant funded by Lincolnshire County Council to help improve parents wellbeing.
LPCF Members were given the opportunity to attend these FREE sessions taking place during the evening.
Five fortnightly sessions were held covering topics such as "The Emotional Resilience Toolkit, Anxiety, Mood and Food, Boundaries and Family Pressures.
An evaluation form was completed by members so Trustees could monitor the usefulness of the sessions.
Due to the positive comments and success of the sessions more sessions are being held in September 2023 (see events page for more details).
One member commented about the session on "Anxiety" "This was an amazing session, and I really enjoyed learning about the bodies responses! And how things can be related to stiffness or tension rather than a physical problem! Thank you to the whole team".Another member commented "Nicole has such a relaxed style of delivery, she keeps everyone engaged whether it be on the chat or speaking. No one is made to feel judged or as though there is something wrong with them.Anxiety appears to be common place but Nicole gave us lots of tools to deal with it including my favourite the 3 P's. Good to see some new people to Hypnotherapy participate.".
During the session on Mood and Food one member commented "Mood & food was an interesting topic especially around the subject of sleep.My late night eating was explained as I am tired and looking for my next sugar fix. Maybe need to go to bed earlier or for a nap in the day. Stress is also a big issue.
Special LPCF wellbeing page
LPCF have developed a private page on the website just for LPCF members who attend the Hypnotherapy sessions. On the page are the links to the sessions, Nicole's PowerPoints and some useful resources to keep members informed between sessions. We will also add recommendations and helpful articles and video.
More feedback is included in this report
LPCF Excellence Award Winners
January to June 23
Congratulations to the Family Engagement Team at Lincolnshire Action Trust who were awarded first place in the LPCF Excellence awards.
Melissa Ashley and Carole Murray (Kids) were also awarded as runners up as voted on by the LPCF Trustees and Volunteers
Nomination details were as follows:
Family Engagement Team -Lincolnshire Action Trust
I recently went to visit a person in Lincoln prison I took the kids to visit, with all their additional needs I was obviously stressed and worried about it. I called the family support office and the staff have been absolutely amazing they went above and beyond for me and the children, I explained about their additional needs and disabilities and my own.
I asked about reasonable adjustments to meet needs and put things in place to help it be a good positive experience for the children. One of the girls met me when I got there she took me to a side room so I could discuss everything with her privately she came and spoke to the prison officers they let us go through by ourselves so not overcrowded they talked the kids through what happens made the kids feel really comfortable had them laughing.
Explained each step beforehand. They spoke about potential noise and alarms might go off gave them colouring book about visiting dad in prison it had words about how I'm feeling my daughter circled happy excited and nervous. So it was good feedback that she was doing ok. They had a playmat with projector they loved that they answered all questions for them they explained about the sniffer dog and what to do not making the kids scared as I have been before. I'd love for HMP Lincoln to be recognised for all the adjustments they made and they listened to my fears and concerns.
The family support team are now looking into more about social stories for children and adults with additional needs to print something to prepare for a visit to know what to expect, I said it would be good if they see types of uniforms so they know who's who, about the doors how they open and close shut behind you, the dog because I've sensory seekers I was worried they touch the dog it was really good being able to talk it through with them and facts it went so smoothly.
I couldn't of asked anything more and I feel that with an award it brings more awareness to them as not only that the majority of prisoners have mental health issues and additional needs more so with ADHD, it could help them understand more for the prisoners the families and friends.
Melissa Ashley
I know she is my sister but for me she deserves recognition for all her support and help.
Despite being miles away she is always there for our family.
Especially my youngest who has Autism and development issues.
She provides amazing support for him and has gone above and beyond helping both us as a family and our son.
We get regular video calls which he loves and she provides me that sisterly support to hang on in there when I am perhaps at a low ebb, providing me personally with emotional support plus advice and words of wisdom.
At times when she sees that things are frantic she will even take my son and provide me a couple of days respite to focus on my other children who also have their own SEND issues.
She is a sister but she is a star in my life
Carole Murray (Kids)
She's the No.2 (pun intended!) the team around my son, is amazing but no one can step into my shoes if something happened, like Carole.
She's been there for my son and I for nearly 9 years now, through my daughter and dad dying, our most difficult trials as a family, the boys leaving to live at the mums and then my sons dad dying in 2018. Since then it's been just us :) and I know that if I wasn't able to care for my son, she could fill my shoes until I was well again.
She's literally one in a million, all our carers are though.
You'll never find another Carole Murray
Well done to all nominations for going above and beyond for families of children with SEND. For full details of all the listings click on the blue link to see the January - July nominations.
Juggling the Joys of Parenting!
Parents Workshops with Hil Gibb
November 2022 to June 2023
In partnership with Hil, LPCF developed workshops for parents about the issues that have been identified by the membership over the last few years. The series was aimed at parents who wished to have fun, meet other parent carers that want to make life easier for themselves and learn new strategies that can make a real difference to their lives.
Each workshop consisted of a 90 minute interactive workshop on Zoom, which on a few occasions continued after the 90 minutes had elapsed.
These workshops were free to parents on the LPCF membership.
LPCF are looking to hold more sessions for parents in the near future.
One member commented:-
"Really useful graphics and points, that I will take away and use.
As my child isn't autistic or ADHD, I couldn't relate to what others were sharing and wondered if this was the right workshop for me but decided to carry on and by the end felt it doesn't matter what the SEN is, the triggers, critics and change curve are relevant in life regardless of
personal situations and so very useful to have them talked about."Another member commented:-
"Have to say that Hil is so interesting to listen to and adds an extra perspective to encourage us to think outside the box when looking at how we view things. Sometimes it's nice to hear how we can improve our lives ourselves by looking at things differently. We have the power to change."
More feedback is included in this report
Promoting Positive Behaviour Workshop
June 2023
In partnership with LPCF, Chris from Aspens delivered a workshop for parents and professionals about promoting positive behaviour.During the two hour workshop Chris covered:-
- Common Causes
- Behaviour as a form of communication and how to establish what they are saying
- High Levels of anxiety & behaviours of concern
- What are behaviours and behaviours of concern
- Putting a plan in place and how to help
One parent commented "Thank you for such a useful session. We have support from school but we are lacking direction on how to support our child. This session has given me a better understanding and new approaches to take that I hadn't already thought of".
A professional commented "This course was fantastic, Chris delivered this with a great amount of knowledge and support in lots of different areas around behaviour- I have taken so many notes and will look forwarding to receiving the slides so I can deliver what I have learnt to the other members of my team. Thanks so much.
LPCF AGM
29th June 2023
LPCF held its AGM where the 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts were presented.
Volunteers and Trustees were thanked for the enormous amount of volunteer time given during the year.
As the Annual report and Accounts had been published prior to the meeting a quick overview was given by the Chair.
This included mention of the "No secrets" report which documents LPCF's journey to co production over the last 16 years.(P20).
The LPCF Excellence awards which had a total of 35 nominations over the year were presented as an example of the huge amount of good practice that is happening for parents on the LPCF membership.(p37)
"The Week of SEND" was mentioned as an event not to be missed and is mentioned on page 23.
Lastly but by no means least the good news is that the LPCF membership has increased over the last year with 645 new members - nearly double last year also having
289 re -registrations.
Trustees were elected for the forthcoming year.
Other partners were thanked for their co production with LPCF.
The Chair of LPCF was thanked by Karen Dowman (LCC) on behalf of everyone at the meeting.
Annual Report
Volunteer Engagement Day
15th May 2023
LPCF held its May Volunteer/Trustee engagement day in person at the Community Room in Morrisons, Pinchbeck, near Spalding.
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A team of seven volunteers joined together to discuss the priorities of the Charity and the work to represent the views of parent carers on the membership.The team were given the usual update on the meetings that volunteers and trustees have been attending and the outcomes that have been achieved.
The LPCF Survey was discussed albeit the report into the findings is not yet concluded.
Highlights from the Annual report were given to volunteers and thanks from the Chair for all their hard work over the last year. One of many lovely comments from the membership was cited to volunteers "Welcome", this is by far the most useful and informative group I have ever joined, it is not imposing or neither adds pressure to my already stressful life, it only enhances my knowledge and support which gives my family and I power to succeed in identifying, resolving and exceeding boundaries and challenges we may face!
A new workshop for the membership was discussed and topics were explored. Details of this will be released towards September.
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Volunteers also explored how parents navigate their own journey of SEND and they all joined in with mapping their journeys - some which were very complex. LPCF will be working on their offer of support to parents over the next year to try and simplify it for them.
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A new project with Health and Liaise was discussed and volunteers came up with ideas to put forward to the working group. Watch this space!
Training, admin and technology along with a list of diary dates was also discussed.
Thanks was expressed by the Chair to the team for all their hard work in supporting parents of children with SEND in Lincolnshire.
LPCF's Parents Voice
January to March 2023
Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care, Covid- 19 etc.In this edition we have a "Thank you" from the Chair for participating in the LPCF State of SEND Survey, plus parents views on:-
We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.
The January to March 2023 report can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.
Promoting positive behaviour follow up workshop
28th March 2023
In partnership with LPCF, Chris from Aspens delivered a special follow up workshop for parents and professionals about promoting positive behaviour.
To attend the workshop participants needed to have attended one of the previous workshops held by Chris and kept evidence of the strategies that they had used with their children.
During this small, focused workshop Chris explored what attendees had tried ,what had worked, what had not and then gave the attendees other strategies to try.
It became very obvious during the session that the four participants had put a lot of effort into keeping evidence of what strategies they had tried and were doing their best to help their families and children in their care.
One parent commented "Really useful session I felt listened to and supported throughout by team, trainer and other parents.
Given some more useful strategies to try. Also was really nice to be told that I am doing a good job even though most days are a battle and it doesn't feel like it. Thanks again for the support you have offered.".
Toilet Skills Workshops
with LCC Specialist Continence Nurse
During March 2023 LPCF invited Amy, who is a Specialist Continence Nurse to speak to parents on the LPCF membership about any issues their children may be experiencing around Continence.
One parent commented "Lovely to have a session devoted to toileting issues with children with SEND. I am very thankful that you have put these sessions on for parents who are struggling. It helps knowing that we aren't the only
ones struggling, acknowledge the stigma around the subject and explore strategies to help.
Thank you for all the wonderful resources."
A big thank you to Amy for her help and expertise.
LPCF are hoping to repeat these workshops with Amy yearly to aid parents and professionals who may be experiencing issues.
Please see the report published on the library page of the website
LPCF Wellbeing sessions
January - March 2023
A series of "virtual" Wellbeing sessions with Nicole from Hummingbird Hypnotherapy.
After the success of our last series of Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole, members of LPCF were excited to start on the next series commencining in January 2023.
These sessions were kindy grant funded by the DFE to help improve parents wellbeing.
LPCF Members were given the opportunity to attend these FREE sessions taking place during the evening.
Five fortnightly sessions were held covering topics such as What is Hypnotherapy and how it can help, Managing the emotions of transitions/change and the impact it has on us, Perfectionism, not letting the past cloud now and growing our self compassion.
An evaluation form was completed by members so Trustees could monitor the usefulness of the sessions.
Due to the positive comments and success of the sessions more sessions are being held in May 2023, although the evening has now changed to a Wednesday.(see events page for more details)
One member commented about the session on "Growing our self compassion" "Self compassion was a really useful area to cover, as I think as carers we often forget about being compassionate to ourselves as well as others. Which can lead to a downward spiral of self blame".Another member commented "This made lot of sense, not just for me, but for someone I care for. Hopefully we can put some of the suggestions to good use and start to move forwards again".
During the session on Growing our self compassion one member commented "I thoroughly enjoyed this session. Its opened my eyes to making time for myself and be kind to myself as I never do this. Its gave me many ideas of how to do it and to incorporate it into my daily routine so that I will be able to make sure I'm meeting this need for myself everyday, even if it's just for 5 mins!".
Special LPCF wellbeing page
LPCF have developed a private page on the website just for LPCF members who attend the Hypnotherapy sessions. On the page are the links to the sessions, Nicole's PowerPoints and some useful resources to keep members informed between sessions. We will also add recommendations and helpful articles and video.
More feedback is included in this report
LPCF's Week of SEND 2023
23rd January -28th January 2023
"There is no support for parents in Lincolnshire" one parent commented on the LPCF Facebook page.
Concerned that this was the case LPCF went about exploring this and the LPCF "Week of SEND" was born.
A successful third virtual "Week of SEND" was held in January.
The aim of the yearly event is to provide as much information as possible on as many subjects as possible and to give organisations the chance to showcase the enormous amount of support available in Lincolnshire.
The sessions were held throughout the day, during the evening and at the weekend to ensure that as much flexibility for attendance was given to parents and professionals.
There were 16 sessions in total, including 72 organisations who showcased their offers of support in 10 minute slots or presented in one of the interactive workshops held during the week.
The accessible Zoom platform was utilised so participants could access sessions from the comfort of their own home.
Participants were asked to complete an evaluation to provide feedback to LPCF about the event, which has been collated in the report herewith for your information.
LPCF would like to thank the many parents and professionals who attended throughout the week and everyone who was involved in making the event a success. We couldn't have done it without you.
Roll on January 2024!
LPCF Wellbeing sessions
Sept - Dec 2022
A series of "virtual" Wellbeing sessions with Nicole from Hummingbird Hypnotherapy.
After the success of our last series of Hypnotherapy sessions with Nicole, members of LPCF were excited to start on the next series in September 2022.
LPCF Members were given the opportunity to attend these FREE sessions taking place during the evening.
Six fortnightly sessions were held covering topics such as Managing Expectations, How not to lose your cool, Anxiety, Family Pressures and more.
An evaluation form was completed by members so Trustees could monitor whether to add more sessions.
Due to the positive comments and success of the sessions more sessions are being held in January 2023.(see events page for more details)
One member commented about the session on "Managing Expectations" "Really useful session especially with my new job where a lot of pressure is put on me to reach others expectations. I have come to the conclusion that I need to be realistic about what I can achieve and help others to manage their expectations of me".Another member commented "Good session on managing expectations with Nicole. Love the bright pink PowerPoint!
We explored whether we have high expectations of ourselves and others.
We also talked about lowering our expectations and being kinder to ourselves.
It was also useful to know that knowledge and experience can change them and they can change over time. Good sessions and useful to hear that I am not the only one with high expectations!"
During the session on family pressures one member commented "This session about pressures was helpful because it helped me consider what psychological barriers I had for asking for help. It also helped me notice what I was actually doing and managing that I didn't give myself credit for and made me aware of how I talk to myself. There were useful tips for managing pressures such as stopping the noise of unnecessary notifications that bombard our days and doing all the little things that free up our time. The relaxation at the end was probably the first time I have taken time to relax in weeks - it felt very indulgent. Thank you".
Special LPCF wellbeing page
LPCF have developed a private page on the website just for LPCF members who attend the Hypnotherapy sessions. On the page are the links to the sessions, Nicole's PowerPoints and some useful resources to keep members informed between sessions. We will also add recommendations and helpful articles and video.
More feedback is included in this report
Parents Voice
Our extensive quarterly round up of what parents have been saying about Health, Education, Transport, EHC Plans, Leisure, Social Care, Covid- 19 etc.
In this edition we have thoughts from the chair about The LPCF State of SEND Survey, LPCF Excellence award nominations, the LPCF Outreach project and the exciting LPCF Week of SEND plus parents views on:-
We have again used our "Feedback Friday" polls to gather more information from our closed parents only Facebook page. This simple polling system means that more people can give us their feedback.
The October to December 2022 report can be found here.
For other Parents Voice reports please have a look in our extensive library or check back through our Achievements pages or our library page.
LPCF Excellence Award Winners
July to December 22
Congratulations to Feathers Teens CIC who were awarded first place in the LPCF Excellence awards.
Sam Pittock (the working together team) and Amanda Treacy (teacher & SENCo ) were also awarded as runners up as voted on by the LPCF Trustees and Volunteers
Nomination details were as follows:
Feathers Teens CIC
We couldn't be more proud of Rachel and what she has achieved in such a short time. Since Feathers started we've had private tutor sessions, qualified science and history teachers doing talks and quizzes, hands on science experiments and crafts, we've visited museums, wildlife parks, been fossil hunting on the Norfolk coast, and most recently had a day trip to Alton Towers as a group! Just to name a few activities!
Most importantly my children have actually made friends, genuine honest friendships, they're so much happier and more relaxed than I've ever seen them before. To go from having your children suffering from depression and
being filled with such sadness, to seeing them laughing and playing with other kids without a care in the world is a feeling that I can't even begin to explain! And that is all down to Rachel and her group, and the kindness and encouragement she has shown us. I honestly don't know how I would have coped these last 7 months without her and the other families at Feathers Teens CIC, they're the reason my children are happy again, and therefore they're the reason I'm happy again too.
So whether they win or not I just wanted to write this as a thank you to Rachel and to all the families at Feathers, I know they can't see it but that's probably for the best, I'm not that great at the soppy things in life :)but thank you, you guys made our family whole again. Click on link below for full nomination.
Sam Pittock
Sam supported us emotionally and shared such knowledge and understanding that because of her support, we grew as individuals and as a family. Our son started to receive the services and support he needed and she was there every step of the way. She was always going above and beyond the call of duty.
She delivered all of the support without physically meeting us, due to Covid restrictions.
Sam delivered the National Autistic society's Teen Life Course and liaised with my son's secondary school to offer my son the very best of SEND care.
She was faced with difficulties and I can now safely say that the school have been marked as inadequate in lots of areas including the delivery and recognition of SEND.
I do hope she finally gets the recognition she deserves.
She touched our lives in a way we will never forget and will be forever grateful for.
Amanda Treacey
I would like to nominate Amanda due to her time, patience and efforts in trying to get help for my daughter.
She supports me via email, in meetings and general day to day support in school for my daughter .
We have had so many rejections and she is not giving up fighting for my daughter to get the help she needs before secondary school. She replies to my ridiculous requests/thoughts and emails at all hours-day or night weekend or school time.
She doesn't realise how much it means, her just believing and fighting from our corner.
She has filled in numerous forms for Early Help worker referral for all to be declined along with offering when we finally get our community paediatric appointment to come with me to support me.
I will be forever grateful for her support. Thank you for this lovely idea and I hope she gets it :)
Well done to all nominations for going above and beyond for families of children with SEND. For full details of all the listings click on the blue link to see the July - December nominations