Summer fun for local special needs children

Hi. My name is Charlene & I have a son called Mason who is 7. Mason is autistic and has a learning disability.

My main focus is my son & children similar to him and those with special needs.

It’s no secret that special needs children only have specific days in the month to attend a SEN session of any sort. Cinema is 1 day a month, leisure centres have 6 sessions at the most during the whole of the summer holidays. Government funding for fun days like this in the community are few and far between.

This is really not OK. We struggle to take our children to places where neurotypical people are because we face judgement, ignorance and we worry that our children will not cope in that environment which means special needs children don’t get to do the fun things they should be able to do, in a safe environment.

Not doing what other families are doing is very hard to explain to a child who does not understand speech or sign and who is non verbal.

The six weeks holiday is extremely challenging, their routine and structure of school is gone and we find ourselves feeling guilty because there just isn’t enough going on for them.

I want to try and change that but I can’t do it alone and time is against us.

Not from a business point of view, but just as a parent.

My aim- to hold 9 days from 12-3pm and one or two days being 3.30-6.30pm over the holidays of SEN fun (bouncy castles, soft play etc) at the Kings Hill community centre, maximum 28 children each session. But with this comes cost and it isn’t something I can fund wholly myself. The total cost of the hall & equipment will be around £3000 for those 9 days but even if we can raise half of that, it will give the children honestly such a fun time. It will take immense pressure off of their families knowing they have somewhere to take their children for at least two days of the week. There is not enough government funding for our special needs children and if I could change this in a heartbeat I truly would.

We are trying to get some prizes donated from local businesses. Anyone who donates to this great cause will be entered in the draw to win. We currently have 4 great prizes

Thanks for reading.

Charlene.