Summary
The key focus on our project was to enable social participation among young people with neurodiverse conditions such a autism and ADHD. Providing them with mainly school holiday provision where there was currently no specialised provision in place.
What Team Up did
We provided FREE places for young people aged 10 to 16 to take part in sport holiday camps and also provided a transition route for them to weekly activity where they could continue their enjoyment.
What Team United has learned
We had anticipated gaining more funding so we can grow the service on the West of Scotland but this was rejected. We will now have to stop some services in this area and look at other ways of funding. With the funding that Shared Care provided, we were able to increase our provision in Inverclyde but also in other areas in the West of Scotland. We will now have 6 new weekly sessions which is a tremendous achievement in this area.
How Team United has benefitted from the funding
Our funding goes back over 5 years now and it has been wonderful. We have been able to offer FREE holiday provision for carers which is very hard to find. Team United has benefited year on year as our holiday provision provided a pathway into our weekly sessions and increasing our offerings. This will no longer be possible.
Project Outcomes
Outcome
70% of young people take part in regular weekly and social outings
Results
We started 2 new programmes in Renfrewshire and Drumchapel, formed partnerships with local groups and now have transitioned 30 young people to weekly provision that they did not attend previously.
Case study
None provided
Outcome
Carers will report an increase in their own well-being having had more choice of activities they enjoy and are beneficial to them
Results
Many parents reported that they preferred having longer respite breaks than the usual 2 hours we had previously provided in this project. We made allowances for this and extended the timings of the project. This allowed carers more time to do the things they wanted.
This did put a strain on our staffing as we needed more support staff to manage behaviours experienced by taking part in activities for a full day rather than a few hours.
Case study
Mrs C had usually not taken the opportunity to leave her child and return home. The family did not have their own transport and therefore when their child attended our session, they also stayed and reported not really having a break. Their child also knew they were still around the facility, and this was often a barrier with them wanting to go and see them.
By increasing the time of the sessions to a full day provision, Mrs C was able to plan each day what to do with her time but more importantly not worry about public transport and running late for pick up. She reported having taken up swimming, joining an Aqua Fitness class nearby and rekindling the calm she felt when entering the water.
Outcome
Carers will report an increase in their own well-being having had more choice of activities they enjoy and are beneficial to them
Results
By increasing the delivery time of our services in specific areas, this offered up more opportunities for carers to plan their respite better, attend local activities themselves without the worry of rushing back within a short period of time.
We will need to consider extending the timings of our holiday camps as carers did benefit greatly from this.
Case study
Lucy recently signed her son up to our weekly sessions and this was the first holiday camp he had attended. Lucy is a single Mum from a deprived area in Inverclyde.
Before the breakup of her marriage, Lucy worked full-time and was a keen gym goer. Since the break-up, Lucy had become a full-time carer for her two sons, the younger attending Team United sessions. This change in her life meant she had to give up many things, mainly because of the financial burden but also she did not have time to take a break.
Lucy said “finding Team United has been a huge benefit to me. I have been able to plan my once a week break and although this is just a couple of hours, just doing the weekly shop or having a coffee and relaxing for an hour is great.
When Team United started increasing the hours of school holiday camps, this was music to my ears. I re-engaged with the local gym which is not far from where the camp takes place. I need that release and keeping fit is that”. I would love for more of these camps for children with ASN in the area to continue and I would certainly benefit hugely and I know many other parents would too”. Thanks