BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL HAS ANNOUNCED THAT FUNDING WILL BE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT NEURODIVERSE YOUNG PEOPLE IN ACCESSING SHORT BREAKS.

A funding bid has been approved by Cabinet for a new pilot project to support neurodiverse young people, who find it hard to leave their home, to access short breaks.

Bristol City Council has secured over £740,000 of funding from the Department for Education (DfE) for a new and innovative pilot project which aims to help children and young people (CYP) with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), who find it hard to leave their home, to engage in activities.

The new ‘Pathway to Short Breaks’ project aims to break the cycle of anxiety, by pairing CYP aged seven to 18 with a specialist engagement worker, who will support and encourage them to try out new activities while building their resilience using techniques for managing anxiety. The Pathway to Short Breaks pilot project will have places available for upwards of 80 children and young people.

Councillor Asher Craig, Cabinet lead for Children’s Services, Education and Equalities said: “We know that the long periods of isolation and lockdowns during the pandemic negatively affected our children and young people, who were unable to practice the social and emotional skills needed in daily life, so we are looking at innovative ways to address this.”

“This new programme is one that parents and carers of neurodiverse children and young people have told us is needed. Children and young people are withdrawing themselves from situations and environments that cause anxiety, to a point where the place that they feel safe is a very small area, sometimes just their bedroom. We have worked with families whose children are withdrawing themselves from daily life due to anxiety to help us better understand what is needed to break this cycle and support these children and young people to access Short Breaks.”

Funded by the DfE’s Short Breaks Innovation Fund, Bristol City Council’s Pathway to Short Breaks project will allow for engagement workers and well-being practitioners to support children and families. This will be coupled with specialist neurodiverse youth groups, focused on wellbeing support, enabling anxious young people to engage with the wider community, their peers, and short breaks.

Short breaks are activities for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), helping to build independence skills. Short breaks provide opportunities for disabled children and young people to spend time away from their families and have fun. They also provide families with a break from their caring responsibilities. However, for some children with social communication and interaction needs or autism, they are unable to access short breaks because they struggle to leave their homes.

This new project will act as a bridging service, supporting children and young people to access short breaks.

It will work by developing positive and trusting connections through the Pathway to Short Breaks project to identify areas of special interest or an activity to expand the children and young people’s experiences.

The Pathway to Short Breaks project will be delivered in-house by the Bristol Autism Team, where a multi-disciplinary team, consisting of a clinical psychologist and a team of wellbeing practitioners and engagement workers will be working alongside external partners FACE, Neon Daisy and Horus Wellbeing.

The Pathway to Short Breaks project is set to commence in April 2023 and will run until March 2024, where children accessing the project will be transitioned into existing services. The project also builds on the council’s work to support families of SEND children, including delivering additional school places, holiday activities and investing in support.