Media

Around sixty local children with complex disabilities and special educational needs will be able to take part in some of the fun activities that their able-bodied peers take for granted, thanks to a grant to the Kangaroos charity.

The £60,000 grant will allow Kangaroos to continue to run STARS (Support, Time, Activities, Respect, Sensory), a weekend and holiday club for children and young people aged 6 upwards with complex medical needs and limited mobility. These conditions include epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy, visual and hearing impairments, gastrostomy feeds, catheterisation and complex feeding needs.

Kangaroos recognised that there was a demand for a dedicated club where the activities and equipment used would be tailored to the members’ complex needs, and where they could play and interact with their peers in an extremely safe and structured environment. Their specialist staff are fully trained in supporting a wide range of complex needs.

STARS runs throughout the year from the Ashenground Centre in Haywards Heath where the charity provides sensory equipment, switch adapted toys, musical instruments, cooking equipment, specialist seating, and a range of computers and iPads with tailored software and hardware as well as equipment for intimate care needs.

Sessions are planned to suit the needs of the children and young people, to enhance their experience and to ensure they are appropriately engaged and stimulated. Kangaroos also runs trips that challenge the young people and are outside of their usual experiences. These include fully accessible outward bounds days, from rock climbing, adapted skiing, wheelchair ice skating and dancing, to wheelchair friendly speed boats and visits to accessible playgrounds, as well as overnight residentials. A recent parental survey told us that 100 per cent of the children are having fun at STARS.

At STARS the children and young people are mostly non-verbal and have a range of communication needs and abilities. What makes STARS different is that the highly-experienced staff appreciate that each child is different and know the best ways to enable them to communicate with their peers. This may be through turn taking in a music session or by playing a ball game, or sometimes just by putting two children who are usually restricted to sitting in wheelchairs, onto specialist seating on the floor so they are nearer and can see each other better or hold hands.

The other big difference at STARS is the charity’s aim to build the children’s self-esteem by helping them to become more independent from their families, giving them a sense of belonging by being part of a dedicated club where they feel part of a group and building their confidence to try new things and meet new people. STARS enables them to have an opinion, make choices, feel listened to and a sense of identity.

The Freemasons’ grant will help reduce the social isolation children with disabilities experience. There are limited opportunities to access clubs and activities due to the environment being unsuitable and/or the unavailability of qualified staff able to support their needs. Disabled children therefore, spend a much higher proportion of their time with their parents or carers, have less opportunities to socialise outside of school or college and maintain friendships in the same way that their peers would do. For children with complex needs, opportunities are even more limited, and for the majority of STARS members, the club is the only social and recreational activity available to them where their needs will be safely met.

The STARS programme also benefits the families of the children as they are able to take regular breaks from their caring responsibilities.