Summary
We organised Day trips and activities across Scotland for families whose children have an ever growing range of complex needs which impacts on their communication. This can lead to barriers in all aspects of their daily lives and impact on their family /carers and friends. These activities and day trips enable all the family to relax and have fun in places where they feel supported by people who understand their journey and provide an opportunity to make friends , enjoy accessible activities
What Family Days Out did
We organised and delivered 9 different activities/events in 7 locations across Scotland . Visiting 3 venues we had not been to previously. These were, Blair Drummond Safari Park, Dundee Science Centre, Dynamic Earth Edinburgh, Glasgow Science centre, Heads of Ayr farm Park, The Yard Edinburgh and for the first time we has 2 performances of a Christmas pantomime in our base in TouchBase Glasgow.
These events were for the whole family including siblings. All the families had children and young people with complex needs and felt they could not easily access mainstream locations/ activities for a number of different reasons without the support of Sense Scotland. We have a large number of families who are on our data base but we also attracted a significant number of new families through promotion of our events on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and our website .
We also do a monthly news letter which has all the information about our activities and how to book them. Word of mouth also played a part as families would recommend our Family support service to others and they were welcomed to join our activities.
Carers attended these but were given the opportunity to make friendships and share information as well as get support of our staff on the day. For most of the outings numbers were higher than anticipated but by using waiting list system we managed to provide tickets for everyone who wanted to attend by reallocating tickets when cancellations happened or buying more tickets.
A highlight was the pantomime performances. The theatre company worked with us to provide a special experience for the families and adapting the performances to suit the young people in the audience, including a touch tour before the show to familiarise the children with the props and costumes and the sets so they were aware of what was going on. We added an extra performance to meet demand for this activity.
What Sense Scotland has learned
We learned that keeping track of the budget is essential to ensure we can support as many families as possible within the timescale of the project. Challenges faced can be how to manage no shows at events planned as this can mean families missing out, as places are in such high demand. To help with this we have a waiting list system in place to make sure all available spaces at events are use . However the nature of the children we work with means you cannot always allow for unforeseen circumstance.
We learned to try some new events to offer families a experience they might not otherwise have participated in. For example having a Theatre company stage a pantomime. We learned from the families that as more or more cuts are made to budgets for statutory services across the country , they are relying heavily on charity and Third sector organisation to fill those gaps.
How Sense Scotland has benefitted from the funding
As the numbers of families wishing to attend our events increases the benefits for organisation include strengthening our reputation.
Expanding our services to a new location- our 2 trips to Edinburgh helped us engage with parents and carers whom had never had contact with Senses Scotland early years and advisory service previously.
It enable us to promote other areas of support we can provide to parents and carers to a wider group.
Project Outcomes
Outcome
60 disabled children and young people will have opportunities to spend time with other young people and do activities they enjoy on one or more activity days
Results
Over the project we delivered 9 events/activities for children and young people and families. These were specifically chosen as activities at the families request as locations and activities that the children and young people and their families could relax and enjoy accessible activities knowing that they had support from the staff at Sense Scotland
190 disabled children and young people in total attended these with many attending more than one event.
The feedback received for all the families was very positive .They all reported enjoying the events and felt more at ease accessing mainstream activities when they knew they would meet up with others in a similar situation who would understand the issues that they may experience ..
Some feedback from families who attended the events.
"The sense team were there at the entrance to greet us. Lovely to feel we are part of the sense Scotland group and have them there for support. Loved that we also had a safe space to meet up for lunch and catch up with the team and other families. E had a fantastic day, he loved every minute and so did we seeing him enjoying it so much. Blair Drummond is a perfect venue to take E to. So much for him to do and enjoy with the open space he is free and safe.
We were lucky enough to attend last year too with sense and seeing how much he has progressed this year with being able to go on rides and be let loose is amazing. Thank you again for the opportunity to go with the team."
Case study
Family Y attended a trip to Heads of Ayr Farm Park.
Their son has autism and sensory disabilities . Because of this the family had never been to somewhere like this as they were unsure if the sensory overload would trigger behaviour issues or if he would be nervous and scared of the crowds or seeing the animals up close despite the fact he loved looking at books with animals. The cost of a family trip was another factor. They felt it was a lot of money to pay out if indeed their son did not enjoy it and they had to leave the Park.
On the day the family had the support for the Sense Scotland team to make them feel welcome and introduce them to other families. They joined us at our designated "quiet " lunch space and they were really enjoying the day and their son loved seeing all the animals up close . They fed back that the success of the day had given them the confidence to try other mainstream activities with their son.
"It was great day my son got to see tortoises which are his favourite. He got to handle one too. He became a bit more confident touching animals at end of day from the start as was bit scared."
Outcome
80 carers will report feeling better supported
Results
In Total 283 parent/ carers attended one or more of our events funded by Better Breaks in 23/24. So we easily meet the outcome of at least 80 feeling more supported.
As in nearly all the events we organise or do within Sense Scotland the parent/carers feedback is that they really appreciate the effort we put in to connect families together and therefore build a network of peer support. At all of our Better breaks outings we made sure we had a specific area for the families to get together at Lunchtime to chat together and share information and good practice as well as build each others confidence and resilience. The Sense Scotland team of advisers are also present during this time to facilitate the conversations and offer advice and information on an array of topics which may impact the families. They are also there to physically help the families if requested by providing support for the children and young people.
Case study
Family S who are from overseas and have no family in the UK attended one of our Better break outings. Their child is very young recently had a diagnosis of a rare condition which has impacted on his global development. Both mum and dad felt very isolated as they had no idea where to get support or even find out information about there son's condition. They contacted us after seeing the outings promoted on our website . They met with staff on the day and with other parents, as well as having a great time seeing all the animals. We were able to signpost them to other supports available as well as offer some one to one sessions with our early years advisers to help them understand how to build early communication skills with their son through play. They were delighted with the support offered and felt less fearful of their sons future knowing they had somewhere to contact about their concerns and get advice and information.
Outcome
40 disabled children and young people and their parents/carers report improved wellbeing
Results
In total 190 disabled children and young people attended the events in the project. Most of them attended more than one event.
The event/ activities available on the project were specifically chosen as days out to have fun and relax in the company of families on a similar journey so they could share experiences and get valuable peer support for both the parents and carers and the young people involved. They could also relax in the knowledge that Sense Scotland staff were there to talk to about any problems or issues they were experiencing and provide practical and emotional support .
The majority of the locations had an element of both indoor and outdoor activities where the families could benefit for being out in the fresh air and enjoying the well being this brings , Scottish weather permitting.
The feed back from families received showed that after these events they felt better and more relaxed. As well as happier knowing their children and young people had enjoyed the days out.
Feedback from evaluation about the benefits of attending an event:
Improved wellbeing - respite from day to day tasks - receiving information from sense Scotland staff, Increased confidence to attend attractions - improved wellbeing - respite from day to day routines - sharing information with other families - receiving information from sense Scotland staff - making new connections/relationships
Case study
We have no specific case study for this outcome but evidence from all of the feedback and evaluation we have done, shows the majority of the families have stated improved well being as one of the factors that they experienced during and after the events. They have reported that their children and young people enjoyed the events and were happy to come along to other events and activities that Sense Scotland organised as they knew they would be in the company of people with similar situations so would be understanding of the day to day pressures they experience as well as having the opportunity to make and build new friendships and relationships so reducing the isolation and loneliness that the parents/carers and young people can experience.
One parent who came along to one of our Twinkle tots session explained how uncomfortable she felt with her daughter at a mainstream mother and toddler group as the other mums did not understand her situation or her daughters specific needs and made her feel unwelcome, so she really enjoyed the more inclusive ethos at our session.