Overview
What you have told us and what we are doing.
Accessing our local community can be difficult as my child is not understood, and we need to have some activities which are disability specific.
The activity calendar outlines activities we have available which are SEND-specific. We continue to look for new providers who could offer activities under our umbrella.
The Community Inclusion and Activity Team offer informal training sessions to all different staff and volunteers within provider organisations. Including Disability Awareness, Communication and Voice of the Child.
The Ollie the Flamingo project continues to be rolled out via the Parent Carer Forum. It worked with local businesses to support families with children who have additional needs. These venues agree to make reasonable adjustments. You can find them on the Somerset Parent Carer Forum website.
We are not confident to go to activities on our own, we like being with other families who understand as this helps. We like there to be staff on hand if needed.
We offer family activities with extra support. These help you have fun and meet new people. You can find them in the Activity Calendar. Symbols show which activities offer this support. The Community Inclusion and Activity Team runs two SEND family clubs each month in Bridgwater and Mendip.
Buddies could help our young people access more in their community.
We tested a volunteer buddy project. We now focus on recruiting volunteers in a more general role initially, to then consider moving them into more bespoke roles if the need arises. This approach is safer and more supportive. We still have a small number of volunteers to use though.
Transport and accessability
Transport to get to activities is limited if you do not drive.
We share information about community transport on our website. Some activity providers offer transport from set pick-up points.
We need help with getting to places and transport.
We continue to promote transport options and support where we can.
Changing place toilets can be limited in some areas of Somerset. which make it difficult for my child’s personal care on a day out.
We are doing some joint work with Adults Services, Discovery, Somerset Parent Carer Forum and young people to move forward with new installations and updating existing ones. Also considering some campaigns to educate the public and venues about what the facilities are and who they are for. As well as how to host the information locally so it is easily accessible when people are out and about.
We would like more accessible parks and open spaces, more inclusive soft play sessions, and more disability awareness in the community.
Accessible parks – we have a few parks within Somerset which offer accessible play equipment, however, we recognise there are not enough of these. This is an area we could explore with the Council which has oversight of parks and open spaces. We will also continue to promote any parks we know in other areas which families may like to travel to.
Inclusive Soft Play – a monthly SEND soft play is delivered in Minehead with the CIA Team. There are also some other really inclusive soft play centres in Somerset and these providers often put their sessions on our Local Offer events calendar.
Disability awareness in the Community – The Community Inclusion and Activity Team continues to offer Disability Awareness, Communication and Voice of the Child informal training sessions to all different staff and volunteers within provider organisations.
The Ollie the Flamingo project continues to be rolled out via the Parent Carer Forum. The project has worked with local businesses to create a list of venues that are willing to make reasonable adjustments for children with additional needs and disabilities. The companies that have signed up for the scheme are listed on Somerset Parent Carer Forum.
Age groups
Some of the activities only go up to 18 years.
Short Breaks is part of Children’s Social Care. It is a service for children and young people aged 0 to 18, as set out in law. We do share information about activities for young people aged 18 to 25, but these are not funded through the Short Breaks grants programme. The Max Card scheme is available for children and young people aged 0 to 25.
We need more for the 14+ years and the under 8’s in some areas of Somerset.
We keep working with new providers to offer activities for children and young people aged 0 to 18. Some providers run sessions for different age groups so they can meet specific needs. We sometimes ask them to review and change their age ranges to make activities more accessible. We know there are still gaps for some ages across the county. To help with this, we promote other options, including the Max Card for ages 0 to 25 and our Activity Passes.
Specific needs
There are more limited options for children with complex physical needs.
We know we do not have enough services for children and young people with the most complex needs. However, the organisations that do provide this support are very good. We support these services as much as we can so they can keep offering high-quality support. We also link new organisations with experienced providers so they can share good practice.
We need more activities for siblings of disabled children and young people.
Many of the activities offered through the Activity Calendar include siblings.
Some of the activities can be too busy.
It can be hard to know how busy an activity will be. We suggest you contact the provider before you go. They can tell you what to expect and if there are quiet spaces or calmer sessions. There are lots of activities in the Activity Calendar, and we hope you can find something that suits you.