Urgent Support Needed

Established in 2007 by Kildare woman, Karen Leigh, Sensational Kids was born out of frustration with the lack of timely, accessible and affordable occupational therapy services for her own children.

Today, Sensational Kids is helping to bridge the gap between public and private services to make these crucial supports available to children and their families.

Our Play, Learn & Develop store helps to fund our subsidised services, but we also rely on grants and fundraising to cover our running costs.

THE ISSUE

T H E I S S U E

1 in 4 children in Ireland has a special educational need e.g. those with autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia.

86,000 children are currently on HSE disability waiting lists for assessments, diagnoses and therapy.

Vulnerable children are left waiting up to 4 years for intervention.

4 years +

Access to timely intervention is key for children to meet their development potential in school and life. Lack of assessment, diagnosis and therapy increases frustration, outbursts and damages confidence in young people

T H E I S S U E

Waiting long periods for diagnosis impacts not only the child's school life and progression but has a huge impact on the entire family

Assessment and diagnosis are needed to access supports from the Dept of Education such as Special Needs

Assistants, assistive technology, resource hours, and exam considerations

Post-COVID, children are presenting to us with more complex needs, requiring multiple therapists for occupational therapy, speech & language therapy, educational psychology, sensory processing difficulties and severe anxiety.

OLUTION

Sensational Kids provides timely, accessible and affordable early intervention services that significantly improve the lives of children with additional needs.

Our specialist team identifies those needs through independent assessment, and they engage the children, parents and teachers in appropriate therapies.

Early identification and intervention enable us to tackle problems head on, so they don’t become major issues as the child grows and develops.

ABOUT SENSATION

Child Developme

Sensational Kids no four Child Develop Centres, strategica in each of the four of Ireland. We supp children and famili Kildare Town, Clon West Cork, Clarem

Mayo and Clones in Monaghan.

Speech & language therapy

Occupational therapy

Specialist reading teacher

Play therapy

Educational

psychological assessment

ABOUT SENSATIONAL KIDS

Educational/ Developmental

Toys & Resources

Our Play, Develop & Learn Store runs

as a social enterprise.

100% of shop profits help to fund our bsidised therapy services for children and adolescents.

ur shop is a fundraiser for our therapy supports.

ABOUT SENSATIONAL KIDS

Training

Our E-Learning and live training upskills parents and teachers who support children with additional needs.

We provide professional development opportunities for clinicians in Ireland to access world class workshops with renowned clinicians from around the world.

Hugo

"The minute we got to Sensational Kids, it changed our lives. We had searched for an answer for a long time and within 5 minutes of Dana watching Hugo she turned

Sarah, Hugo's Mother

I M P A C T T O D A T E

Over 10,000 children supported with specialised 1:1 therapy

Saving families over €3 million in unaffordable therapy fees

900+ parents, teachers, SNAs and clinicians equipped to better understand and support children in their care.

COMFORT & WELLBEING OF FAMILIES

Our 4 Child Development Centres support 330 children each week. We believe that creating strong relationships between a child and their therapist is vital for success.

Facilitating these relationships in a bright, warm and inviting space is key to engaging with the child so that we can support their wellbeing.

Each of our 4 centres has large, high spaces to house colourful Sensational Kids sensory-motor gyms. These are essential tools for achieving positive outcomes with children and adolescents.

COMFORT & WELLBEING OF FAMIL

The Sensational Kids sensory-mot fun and structured environment th develop their sensory, communic skills.

Our gyms also provide opportuniti succeed and feel a sense of achievements, thus improving con esteem.

Social skills are also developed as children learn to engage with their therapists and peers. Our sensory-motor gyms help to foster functional independence and skills development in a childdirected, play-based environment.

FAMILY FUND

Cost: €100,000 pa

Sensational Kids exists to bridge the gap between the public sector with long waiting of up to 4 years and expensive private services which are out of the reach of many families. Sensational Kids offers subsidised assessments and therapies.

Our ‘Family Fund’ provides a source of additional subsidies to families who cannot afford our basic rate. A donation towards this fund ensures that all families can avail of Sensational Kids services, regardless of their financial situation.

Sensational Kids is facing a huge challenge. We rely on earned income from our Play, Develop & Learn store and our training workshops to subsidise our therapy services for children.

We also receive some restricted/periodic government and philanthropic funding, for which we are very grateful.

However, due to rising costs and everincreasing demand for our services, we must raise additional funds to cover the day-to-day operations of our 4 Child Development Centres in Kildare, Monaghan, Mayo and Cork.

SO

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

You can support our Sensational Kids in a very practical and meaningful way by investing in our Child Development Centres. By contributing to the below essential running costs, you will enable us to continue providing vital therapeutic supports to 330 children each week.

Annual Rent: €155,000

Annual Family Fund: €100,000

Annual Energy Costs: €55,000

Annual Insurance: €32,000

Postage & Stationery: €15,000

Telephone & Broadband: €10,000

SO HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Will you be a Sensational Sponsor by making a gift of €5,000 to support our running costs for 1 week?

€5,000 – Sensational Sponsor for 1 week

€10,000 – Sensational Sponsor for 2 weeks

€15,000 – Sensational Sponsor for 1 month

In recognition of your generosity, we will display a “Sensational Sponsor” banner with your logo in our 4 reception/waiting areas for 1 week (or as many weeks as you would like to sponsor). We will also feature you on our website and social media

If the above options do not match the level at which you would like to support Sensational Kids at this time, please get in touch and we would be delighted to discuss other ways you can help.

Thank you

Do you want to make a big difference to improve the lives of vulnerable children with additional needs?

Just think how amazing that would be!

Simply get in touch now to make it happen:

Joy Booth, Fundraising Manager, Sensational Kids

Joy@sensationalkids.ie; 083 105 7253

You can also make your gift by EFT to the following account:

Account Name: Sensational Kids CLG

IBAN: IE 49 IPBS 99 06 45 10 39 41 11

BIC: IPBS IE2D

Branch: Permanent TSB, The Court Shopping Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare

Or donate online: www.sensationalkids.ie/donate

Thank you for supporting Sensational Kids!

OurCentres

Kildare

Sensational Kids, Unit C2 Kildare Business Park, Melitta Road, Kildare Town, R51 WP02 045 520900

info@sensationalkids.ie

Mayo

Sensational Kids, Lakeside Retail Park, Claremorris, Co Mayo, F12 P2H9 094 9357005

claremorris@sensationalkids.ie

Instagram @sensational kids

Twitter @SenKidsIreland

West Cork

Sensational Kids, 2nd Floor, Building G, West Cork Technology Park, Clonakilty, Co Cork, P85 VF62 023 887 8208 clonakilty@sensationalkids.ie

Monaghan

Sensational Kids, Unit 8 Clones Business Technology Park, Clones, County Monaghan H23 P294 047 52671

clones@sensationalkids.ie

Facebook @SensationalKidsIreland

LinkedIn Sensational Kids CLG