Reaching families...

Supporting young people with special educational needs

Many founders of charities or not-forprofit organisations decide to start their own organisation as a result of finding themselves unable to find the support they themselves need … Brian O’Hagan, Director of Reaching Families, is no exception.

In 2008, Brian had recently moved back to Worthing, after many years living in London, and had a child, James, who had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at eight weeks old. Brian says, “When my son was poorly, I noticed that there was very little support for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) so I began to explore what could be offered to support parents and families and in doing so, enhance the quality of life for children with SEND and their families.” Having spent 25 years working in the voluntary sector Brian decided to use his skills to launch an organisation that could achieve these objectives.

Working with over 3,000 West Sussex families

Brian explains that the aim of Reaching Families is to empower families of children with SEND in order for them to “maximise the support they receive from external agencies, have the knowledge and skills to care for a child or young person with SEND and to improve their resilience and emotional wellbeing through the support of other families in a similar situation.

“We do that through the delivery of a one-stop shop of services that includes an in-depth parent -carer guide, an online library of factsheets and animations, training workshops and courses, benefits advice and a befriending service for parents of children undergoing diagnosis.” The charity also has parent support groups based in Billingshurst, Burgess Hill, Chichester, Littlehampton, Worthing and online via zoom. With another group to be launched in Shoreham later this year.

Every year, Reaching Families supports over 3,000 families with a range of projects and services. Although the charity does receive referrals from health, schools and the local authority, referrals are not necessary for those seeking support from the organisation.

Delivering a range of information and training services

Reaching Families achieves its mission is to “empower, inform and support parents and families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in West Sussex,” through the delivery of a wide range of services. Possibly key amongst which is the charity’s parent-carer guide: “Making Sense of It All” –often referred to by users as the “parent-carer bible.” The guide is designed to enable and inform parents of children with SEND from birth through to adulthood, covering subjects including diagnosis, benefits and money matters, accessing support at school and from health & social care, and transition into adult life. It also contains a useful directory of local and national organisations, and an equally useful, and extensive, jargon-buster. The guide may be ordered free of charge as an eBook or in hardcopy format, subject to postage and packing, from the Guide Page of the charity’s website.

The charity also offers a series of fact sheets on childhood disabilities and rare syndromes, combining clinical information with local information on relevant projects, services and support for a particular condition. All information is localised to the needs of West Sussex families. Reaching families also produces information in the form of animated films – Animation Shorts – on a variety of subjects.

In 2021-22, 2,600 copies of the Making Sense of it All guide were downloaded/delivered to families, whilst over 10,000 factsheets were downloaded from the Reaching Families website.