Final newsletter from SEND Family Voices

Final newsletter from SEND Family Voices 29th September 2018 Dear All We promised to send out details of alternative sources of information and support before closing our doors on October 1st. As we mentioned, many of us will be continuing with the organisations that we already run or participate in, and a few are starting something new.

This list is not exhaustive, but we hope that it will provide some continuity and a means of contacting most of us after SEND Family Voices closes.

1. Contact details for existing steering group members 2. New sources of support 3. Other sources of information and support 4. Steve Broach Post 16 Maze event

1. Contact details for existing steering group members Here are the contact details for the organisations that we will continue to be part of:

21andCo = Rachel For families of children with Down's Syndrome E: rachel@21andco.org.uk W: www.21andco.org.uk Rachel can also be contacted regarding other types of moderate learning disability, and short breaks.

Express CIC = Annette and Tracey For families of children with autism T: 020 8390 4273 M: 07971 466 218/ 07910 680 927 E: info@expresscic.org.uk W: www.expresscic.org.uk

MeToo&Co = Jennifer Offer support, advice, training and therapies and services for children with SEND. To register with them and receive local newsletter click here.

E: info@metooandco.org.uk W: www.metooandco.org.uk

Phyz = Penny & Sylvie For families of children with physical disabilities E: info@phyz.org.uk

Richmond Dyslexia Association (RDA) = Sophie ...offers support for those in Kingston too T: 07495 648 025 E: info@richmonddyslexia.org.uk W: www.richmonddyslexia.org.uk

Richmond Mencap = Laura T: 020 8744 1923 E: Laura@richmondmencap.org.uk W: www.richmondmencap.org.uk

National Autistic Society Richmond Branch (NAS) = Kevin and Alison Supporting families and people living with autism T: 07810 505 982 E: richmond@nas.org.uk W: www.richmondnas.org

2. New sources of support And here are two new sources of support from ex-SFV Steering Group members:

SENDSpeak.org = Romany SENDspeak is a new newsletter about the world of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities in Kingston, Richmond and beyond. If you enjoyed receiving the newsletters from SEND Family Voices, you will like SENDspeak.

SENDspeak will include signposting to local events, from local groups; and national news from the likes of the Council for Disabled Children, Special Needs Jungle and the Department for Education. SENDspeak will also include information from the statutory service providers for our children and young people (eg the CCG’s for children’s health and AfC for educational services).

SENDspeak is written by Romany who edited and wrote the newsletters for SEND Family Voices. You can subscribe here; the link is at the bottom of the page: W: www.sendspeak.org

The Post-16 Maze = Lisa, Prisca and Kate “We are an informal and friendly ‘Parents supporting Parents’ group for those of us with young people with SEND who are in the complex world of Post-16.

We anticipate a broad range of topics for discussion such as social care and respite; education and training; benefit entitlements and access to a social life. We hope to share information, signpost each other, lend an ear and offer support by having monthly coffee and cake sessions. “ Lisa, Prisca and Kate will publicise details once they are established, but if you are interested and would like us to pass on your details to them, please email us before October 1st at SENDFamilyvoices@outlook.com and title your email “sign up to the Post-16 Maze”

3. Other sources of information and support.

There are many other local support organisations that are available to provide information on a range of matters, too many to list here. The SENDIASS services is commissioned by Achieving for Children to provide information and support to families, so they would be a good first port of call if none of the organisations above fit the bill.

SENDIASS Provide signposting to local sources of information as well as a range of other services: Phone: 0208 831 6179 E: RichmondKingston@kids.org.uk W: https://www.kids.org.uk/richmond-and-kingston-sendiass

The Local Offer The Local Offer; managed by Achieving for Children contains a wealth of information on services and support. You can access it here: AfC Local Offer

SFV Website Our website will continue to exist at least until the end of the year and we hope that we can find a suitable home for the reports and information it contains so that those resources are still available to the community.

4. Steve Broach Post 16 Maze event It was lovely to see so many parents at the Steve Broach event on Thursday. We hope that you found it as informative as we did. If anyone who wasn’t there would like a copy of the slides we have put them on our website here .

Finally, we would like to thank all of you who wrote us messages of support, it really means a lot. We hope that we will continue to be in touch, albeit by other means.

Thank you and goodbye for now

The Steering Group members of SEND Family Voices