Winner

Nominated Date -
26-04-2021Nominee Name -
Beth and Sharon WarwickNominee Service -
Royal Vulcans Cheer and Dance Nomination Details I would like to nominate my daughters cheer/dance coaches Beth and Sharon for the SEND hero award.
My daughter is 11 and has multiple and complex additional needs including autism. We had long looked for an after school activity that she would enjoy and who would support her needs. We tried swimming, ballet and rainbows/brownies but none worked out for her. Then 3 years ago she attended a taster session for cheerleading with Royal Vulcans Cheer and dance.
Since then we have not looked back. Her coaches Beth and Sharon have completely embraced her difficulties and always try to find a way to include her in everything they do. They recognised quickly what her needs were and put things in place to ensure the sessions were accessible to her.
This included having extra staff/volunteers in sessions to support my daughter if she needed it meaning she could stay for the whole session and slowly build her confidence and skills. My daughter has gone from one hour a week doing Pom dance to doing 3 hours a week training In Pom, hip hop and stunt. She has gone on to compete at lots of competitions which she absolutely loves and lives for.
Over lockdown lessons had to move to zoom which my daughter struggled massively with. She just couldn’t keep up in a group situation and would become frustrated and she was losing her confidence. Her coach Beth was able to offer her private zoom lessons so she didn’t lose her skills and she slowly built her confidence back up. She was taught a Pom solo as well as a group Pom routine so that she was ready to go to competitions again when they restart.
My daughter has dyspraxia and low muscle tone so dance and cheer do not come naturally to her. She does not always make the same level of progress as her friends. Her coaches always find a way to keep her motivated and adapt awards to recognise her accomplishments and so she doesn’t become disheartened.
Her coaches always show my daughter that she is a valued member of the squad, even making her cheer captain for her squad last season. They offer encouragement and are so enthusiastic when teaching her it makes me tired just watching. My daughter is now able to take corrections to her dance to try and improve on what she can do which was unheard of before.
We never thought we would find something that could accommodate our daughter let alone embrace her differences so openly. She loves her cheer and dance and has come such along way. It would not have been possible without Beth and Sharon and I feel that they deserve recognition for all they have done for not only our daughter but for us as a family! Seeing her hit the floor in a competition, beaming from ear to ear, is something we never dreamed possible for her!
We would love for them to be recognised by winning the SEND hero award!
Thank you for reading!