Berkshire Freemasons Gives Grant To Parenting Special Children Charity
Berkshire Freemasons have made an unrestricted grant of £15,000 over three years to Berkshire charity, Parenting Special Children (PSC).
Tess Eagles, partnerships manager at PSC, began her role with the charity two years ago and has first-hand experience of the type of work it carries out: “I’m a mum to a now grown-up son with eight diagnoses himself. When he was young, I felt isolated, lonely and there was one diagnosis I couldn’t even pronounce. The PSC was in its infancy then and it could have helped me so much at that time. It’s my privilege to work with the charity. I think one of the most important things to realise for all the parents, is that you’re just exhausted by the time you reach getting a diagnosis. So, to have a charity to support you through that journey is immeasurable really.”
She added: “We are delighted that we have been able to expand our services at the PSC to meet the needs of families, and very much hope to continue to do so during the coming years. What is unique about Parenting Special Children – and important to the families who receive our services – is that all the staff, trustees and volunteers are themselves parents or carers of children or young people with special needs. All the facilitators of our services also have a professional background, which enables the charity to deliver a professional service. This is valued by families and health, social care and education professionals who refer families to the charity.”
Ms Eagles also mentioned PSC founder, Ruth Pearse, who she has known herself for many years. “Ruth is still very active in the charity and the history is that she set it up due to her own circumstances. She has three grown-up children, all of whom have additional needs, and one of the great things with Ruth is that when she sees a need, she looks at how to meet it. One such example is the ‘Transition into Adulthood’ project, which is there to bridge the gap between children’s services and adult services. It is a support network to share, with signposting and workshops where parents can go and learn everything they need to know around the transition from children’s services to adult services.”
PSC
The PSC is currently looking to reach all areas of the community, including via a new workshop delivered in Urdhu and workshops for families relocating from Hong Kong. It works with other organisations and translators where they might be needed.
The PSC needs to raise about £300,000 each year to support 2,800 families. Some of those families require more than one kind of support, so the PSC has actually delivered support 4,767 times in the past year.
When asked what non-financial help the PSC might also need, Ms Eagles said: “We have a lot of streams that we are working in. We are about to advertise for a replacement senior support worker for our neurodiverse children’s projects. We’re also looking for fundraisers to assist with community fundraising. With regards to facilities, we’re always looking for halls to hold community support groups and neurodiverse groups. We would need to assess those halls for suitability regarding access, facilities and lighting. We’re not looking for a permanent venue. But we need venues to be a safe space for our families to meet and receive support.
We are still running a lot of our workshops online – some people are still preferring that way of meeting. For example, finding a babysitter can be quite difficult, so sitting in front of a laptop or iPad can make the PSC much more accessible. We also now have the ability to operate outside the Berkshire area where it’s appropriate.”
“Lastly, we would also be really interested to hear from an experienced graphic designer, with whom we have projects we’d love to discuss.”
Freemasons Grant
Discussing what difference a grant such as this makes to the charity’s work, Ms Eagles said: “Firstly, thank you to the Freemasons for the fantastic grant. The first difference it will make, especially being an unrestricted grant, is that it will allow us to use the funds to fill the immediate shortfall on our helpline.”
“We’ve also got other areas that will doubtless be benefiting from it too. Multi-year funding (£15,000 over three years in this case) gives charities financial stability. It allows fiscal planning for years one, two and three to be made with certainty.”
· The PSC currently provides the following services:
· Helpline
· Community support groups in the most deprived areas of Berkshire
· Sleep service, including individual child sleep plans
· Specialist parenting workshops, for example pre- and post-ADHD assessment
· Trauma service, including specialist groups for adopters, foster carers and kinship carers
· Family events
· Neurodiverse children and young people’s groups, including a ‘girls only’ group set up at their request
· Support for dads and male carers
· One-to-one support for families facing multiple adversities
· Transition to Adulthood project
· Yearly conference for professionals
· Professional training workshops for professionals working with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
· The PSC can be commissioned by local authorities, schools, corporates and local businesses.
Contact PSC
If anyone reading this article wants to offer the PSC their skills or practical help, they can get in touch with Ms Eagles directly via email: tess@parentingspecialchildren.co.uk. The PSC charity website can be found at www.parentingspecialchildren.co.uk and people wishing to get in touch with the charity as a whole can email: admin@parentingspecialchildren.co.uk.
If a parent or carer of a child with SEND in Berkshire needs help for themselves, they can also call our dedicated helpline on 0118 9863532.
