Who are we: We are a parent run, volunteer led, support group who offer support for parents/carers of children with suspected, non-diagnosed and diagnosed additional needs primarily in the Sutton Coldfield area. We offer emotional and moral support, friendship, peer support, shared experiences, provide a listening ear along with plenty of tea and cake!
As founders we have shared lived experience with those we are seeking to support and both have children with additional needs.
About us:
Louise is mum to three children ages 10, 16 and 18 all of which have a diagnosed SEND need.
She has over 12 years’ experience in family support across a range of services, holds a foundation degree in Health Studies and is in her final year of a Working with Children, Family and Young People undergraduate degree.
Louise is trained to deliver antenatal education, baby massage and parenting programmes and is a firm believer that supporting parental wellbeing, nurturing and positive relationships are the cornerstone for positive child mental health.
Janet is mum to two children ages 10 and 14, both children have a diagnosed SEND need. Janet has experience of adoption and has an understanding of attachment, trauma and adverse childhood events (ACES’s).
Janet has over 20 years’ experience working in business and finance and is passionate about helping others and using her lived experiences to support others, she has also recently completed her Level 2 in Special Educational Needs and Disability.
Aims of Grow Family Services:
1. To run a parents/carers of children with suspected, non-diagnosed and diagnosed additional needs to have support and understanding. Parents/carers are welcome to attend support meetings, where they have a safe, non-judgemental space to express themselves, have a listening ear, an offer of friendship, gain shared experiences and have accessible information to empower parents and allow them to positively navigate the processes. Experts in various specialisms are invited to meetings to offer advice and answer questions.
We are here as parent/carers are often left to navigate the additional needs world by themselves, the emphasis is on the child and securing the support they need and often the parent/carer is left feeling alone, lost, frustrated and confused.
Parents/carers often have to battle to first gain recognition of their child’s difficulties and then to gain the support they need which can be overwhelming. The challenges involved in getting a diagnosis can be emotional and stressful and once a professional diagnosis is made further challenges to obtain EHCP’s and additional support can be frustrating. Accessing and dealing with services that are in short supply can be the biggest frustration for families, and this can sometimes lead to despair. Family and friends can sometimes lack understanding and not know what to say or have an acceptance of the difficulties.
Parents are also experiencing a different life journey to the one they expected along with being under constant stress having to navigate support, negotiating the challenges the system has, along with the emotional challenges this causes it is also mixed in with grief of being in a situation that they had not envisioned or planned and the loss of the child they had expected.
Children with additional needs are more likely to have sleep and behavioural problems which can continue into adulthood. A child that does not sleep well affects the whole family, parent/carers can be left exhausted unable to think clearly and struggle to cope with daily life.
Having a listening ear, offering friendship, sharing experiences and having accessible information can help empower parents and allow them to positively navigate the processes, this can strengthen relationships between parent/carers and children by reducing stress and strengthening resilience of parents/carers which can have a positive effect on mental health and well-being.
Kindness, optimism, offering reassuring conversations and having the knowledge that you are not alone are our strengths and are key to the group’s success.
We believe that by giving parent/carers the opportunity to meet others with shared lived experience and providing them with additional insights from guest speakers on specialist subjects will improve the parenting of their children. Parents/Carers will gain knowledge and develop strategies, build resilience and strengthen family relationships.
2. To create opportunities to access a variety of specialist equipment and toys providing parents/carers with a chance to trial specialist SEND equipment in a cost effective manner.
We want to offer a lending library of specialist SEND books, equipment and toys that will reach as many families as possible especially in the cost of living crisis.
Why?: The cost of some specialist equipment/toys/books are prohibitive especially when you are unsure of the outcome of its use and it does not meet the needs of the child. Our Lending Library will enable families to browse our online catalogue of items which host a variety of play, practical resources and encourage stimulation and sensory play. We also wish to offer a wide variety of books on various SEND related topics.
If we raise the money we will be using it to continue to support parents/carers in our group meetings and to provide additional products for the SEND library.