East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme. Annual Report SCO17097

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1 East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme Annual Report SCO17097

2 East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme Community Centre 8 Law Road North Berwick EH39 4PN Tel: elsnp@eastlothian.gov.uk Web: Like us on facebook Follow us on twitter

3 East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme What Why How We are a parent led charitable organisation offering good quality play, social and educational opportunities for East Lothian children with additional support needs during the school holiday periods. Opportunities for children with additional support needs to interact with their peer groups during school holiday periods are limited and often rely on parental support. Playscheme gives parents a well deserved rest and provides an opportunity for children to have fun in a safe and supported environment, whilst having fun with friends. We provide full day playschemes during school holidays for East Lothian children aged 5-16 years with a wide range of special needs/disabilities. A wide range of activities including trips and outings are offered from our three bases. We recruit and train local teenage volunteers to provide 1-1 support, friendship and fun!

4 Fun, Friendship & Inclusion The Hub Playscheme 25 children Easter, Summer & October School Holidays Prestonpans Playscheme 18 children Easter & Summer School Holidays Base for chidlren with severe and complex needs. 25 children Easter, Summer & October School Holidays North Berwick Playscheme In we were able to support over 75 Children and families who all received a minimum of 1 week (4 days) support at one of our three bases. The children engaged in variety of activities within their local communities being supported on a 1-1 basis by local volunteers. The activities offered included: Swimming; Arts & Crafts; East Links Family Park; Dance; Beach; Bowling; Cinema; Easter egg hunts; African Drums; Botanic Gardens; Horse riding; Baking; Skate park; Almond Valley; Foxlake, Bush Craft and lots more!

5 What ELSNP means to Parents & Carers: My son seemed to enjoy all the activities... Although non verbal I can tell by his mood...happy and excited to go every morning and happy and tired on return. In what ways do you think the playscheme has helped you and your family? We are able to either go to work or give extra attention to sibling or relax while child attending the play scheme is safe and having fun independently from us. It helps with holiday cover during school holidays as our child is not included in mainstream activities due to her disability. She feels very much included and enjoys every minute when she attends playscheme. It has given my child the time to play with other children (something special needs kids don't get much of a chance to do) and it teaches social skills too. The parents also get some valuable time to do things like meetings, doctors, & housework without having to be on guard watching to make sure the child is safe and sound every few minutes. Getting my child to try new things. She wasn t keen on public pools before going, but likes them now. Getting her to play with others and boasting her confidence. We both work and it has enabled us to continue to do this by providing our son with fantastic care throughout the school holidays. It also means that he is less bored and because he is busy during the day, he sleeps well at night. He is also mixing with lots of different people which is good for him.

6 Volunteering In we had a phenomenal 170 volunteers dedicate their own free time and energy to ensure our playscheme children had a fantastic time during their school holidays. Our volunteers bring a fun, youthful element to our provision, promoting inclusion and friendship, which many of our playscheme children haven t experienced before. All our volunteers are put through a full recruitment process including a PVG Disclosure Check prior to starting the placement. Volunteers are required to complete a compulsory induction training session and are offered ongoing training opportunities before each playscheme. Research carried out with our volunteers highlights the impact volunteering has on their lives as well as those who they support. Factors such as increased confidence, improved communication skills, value and self worth, valuable work experience, and an increased ability to interact with a range of different people were identified as positive benefits by our Volunteers. Our team of young volunteers are our biggest asset, and provide a unique opportunity for our members to receive support they require from their peers. Our members relish in the friendships they develop, whist their parents and carers are confident their child's care needs are being met whist participating in fun and age appropriate activities. The commitment and enthusiasm our volunteers demonstrate whist creating a fun and youthful atmosphere is one of the main reasons for the success of our project.

7 What our Volunteers have said: It's a great experience where you grow in confidence in addition to allowing the children to make friends and have fun! I enjoyed everything about it and the experience will stay with me for life! The atmosphere at Play-scheme is amazing and an opportunity to try new things. The staff and children are all friendly and very welcoming and I am looking forward to volunteering at Playscheme for many years to come! I loved everything about play-scheme, I enjoyed getting to know the children and meet other volunteers like me!

8 Chairperson s Report Once again, I am delighted to introduce East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme Annual report. First of all, I would like to thank everybody who works tirelessly behind the scenes to provide a fun, exciting and happy time at Playscheme for our children and young people. It goes without saying that without the dedication and commitment of our team of staff and volunteers, Playscheme would not be what it is. Our children have had a whale of a time this past year with day trips, creepy crawlies, bouncy castle, dancing, baking and generally mucking around with their mates. It s fantastic that our volunteers not only give their time so generously but that they actually want to spend time with our children and be their friends. It always puts a smile on my face when a helper from Playscheme goes out of their way to say hello to my boys in the street, even when my two blank them! Our highly skilled team of staff is integral to the smooth running of our three Playschemes at North Berwick, Prestonpans and The Hub in Tranent. They provide invaluable support to the volunteers and their knowledge and experience allow us to provide high quality care for all of our children. We are a small charity which relies heavily on the generosity of others. We are extremely grateful for the core funding we receive from East Lothian Council for North Berwick and Prestonpans Playschemes. Of course all the amazing fundraising by friends of Playschemes, our families, staff members, volunteers, local community groups and businesses go a long way to closing the gap, but our co-ordinator Kirsty,works constantly throughout the year sourcing and applying for grants and other funding opportunities to cover the 45% shortfall and ensure The Hub Playscheme continues.

9 As a charity, we are regulated by OSCR (The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator) and as such are legally bound to run the Playschemes by way of a Management Committee made up with parents and carers. Without them taking an active part in the running of Playschemes none of this fantastic service would be available to us. We hold 10 meetings per year and at the moment there are eight committee members who attend meetings as and when our busy lives allow. We all have children who love Playscheme and we all have a vested interest in ensuring this unique service not only survives, but flourishes during these demanding financial times. We are extremely lucky to have Kirsty and Angela, our co-ordinator and assistant coordinator, who provide us with the knowledge and information we need to affect policy change and make decisions. We, in turn, aim to support Kirsty and Angela in their roles, allowing them to effectively run Playschemes on our behalf. We are also very grateful to have with us as an employee, Elaine Alsop. Elaine is our extremely knowledgeable bookkeeper who, along with our treasurer Rachel, keeps us up to date with ELSNP financial health, HMRC and Employment regulations and everything else in between. I would also like to thank the parents who give up their precious time to attend our meetings. They all contribute in different ways but each member is valued for their opinions and each member is invaluable. Since joining the Management Committee, I have met so many lovely people, mostly parents of special needs children like myself. Two of my sons have benefited from Playscheme. Daniel, who is now almost 20, was one of the first children to gain a place at the Hub Playscheme all those years ago and my youngest son, Joseph still attends North Berwick Playscheme. I am a stay at home mum and being part of management Committee has given me an opportunity to give something back and give me a sense of

10 achievement. I enjoy the lively discussions we have at our meetings and I have learned so many helpful things from where the best place to go for a haircut with an autistic 15 year old to how to make a weighted blanket! We enjoy helping each other as well as knowing we are doing something vitally important to support our charity. We are always in need of parents to help us with this necessary work and we look forward to welcoming new members who, with us, will ensure this much needed resource continues. This past year has been another great success for Playscheme although it certainly hasn t been plain sailing. We continue to face an uncertain future just as funding becomes scarcer but demand for a service like ours becomes ever more apparent. We would love to operate enough playschemes to accommodate all the 72 children on our waiting list and provide much needed respite for their families. We would benefit hugely from employing more full time staff to help with the day to day running of ELSNP. Even now one and a half people are just not enough. A lot of work is done in the months when Playscheme isn t running. However, despite all of these hurdles, I think there is nothing quite like East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme. It a resource run by a small charity, with a shoestring budget but still provides an invaluable service to an extremely high standard with excellent quality of care and an ethos which is second to none. We should be rightly proud. Gayle Reilly, Chairperson

11 Co-ordinator s Report It s been a fun filled year for ELSNP, with lots of new children, activities and friendships made. We ran a full complement of playschemes across our three bases and are delighted to have been able to support so many children and families. I would like to thank our dedicated staff team who work tirelessly behind the scenes and during the playschemes to ensure that each individual child is given the best quality of care and support. The enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism of our seasonal staff team and volunteers is to be highly commended as they strive to ensure children can access every possible opportunity available to have fun and enjoyment. In particular I would like to thank our Assistant Co-ordinator Angela Smith for all the hard work and planning she puts in to ensure the playschemes run as smoothly as possible. We continue to receive much appreciated support from East Lothian Council, who provide core grant funding for our Prestonpans and North Berwick Playschemes, as well as from the Children s Disability Team and the Community Learning and Development Department who are a constant source of support to ensure our staff are equipped with the knowledge and resources in order to run our playschemes effectively. I would like to express my thanks to our dedicated book-keeper Elaine Alsop, who has spent a lot of time painstakingly ensuring all our accounts are in line with new SORP Charity Accounting Regulations, and for her support and expert guidance in ensuring ELSNP is managing our money as efficiently as possible. We

12 really appreciate the articulate and efficient way in which Elaine works value her contribution to our small team. Our committee this year have been inspirational to work alongside, and I really admire the commitment and enthusiasm which this group of parents bring. The committee are passionate about the Playscheme vision and work hard to ensure that our small charity can make the maximum impact for children and families in our local communities. I look forward to continuing to work with this motivational group to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. As we embark on our adventure, I am clear that what make ELSNP different is a culture of inclusion, fun and friendship, and a highly dedicated team of innovative staff. The support ELSNP provides impacts on whole families and serves as a vital part of their child s social and emotional well-being. I look forward to working with our committee and staff to face the new challenges and opportunities will bring. Kirsty Wood, Co-ordinator

13 Financial Review for year ending March 2016 Thank you for supporting us

14 Without the support of all of our funders and supporters, running ELSNP would not be possible. We would like to thank those who gave generously to us this year: East Lothian Council for providing transport and use of Prestonpans Primary School and the Hub at Sanderson s Wynd Primary School. North Berwick Community Centre Management Committee for use of their premises and to the staff of the centre for their support. Our financial supporters in 15/16: East Lothian Council Organisers and supporters of the Dunbar Dip 2016 TSB Haddington Branch Provincial Grand Lodge of Berwickshire and East Lothian North Berwick Community Centre Management Committee GC Gibson Trust The organisers and participants of the Snowflake party The organisers of the Edinburgh Art Fair Compass School North Berwick Rotary Hamish Colgan Marriot Cycles Asda Belhaven Hill School Tippecanoe LongridgeTowers School 1650 Café Unison Orange Lodge All our fantastic playscheme members, families and friends who participate in, sponsor and organise events on our behalf, such as runs, walks and bake sales

15 The difference your donations make

16 The future for the Hub playscheme? 2015/16 was a successful year; we managed resources well, and with the invaluable support of our playscheme staff and volunteers, delivered the services we wanted. However, we incurred a deficit of 1,159 (14/15: 12,984 deficit). Our total reserves now stand at 82,958 of which 25,806 are restricted or designated to use. Our main focus going forward is securing funding and financial sustainability for the Hub playscheme; in 15/16, as with the prior year, this playscheme was funded substantially from our reserves and unrestricted general donations to the charity as a whole. Financial information extracted from the Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March Copies are available on application.

17 Management Committee Chairperson Secretary Treasurer Committee Members Co-ordinator Assistant Co-ordinator Book-Keeper Independent Financial Auditor Gayle Reilly Lynne Greenhill Rachel Wood Lorna McDougall, Mariella Mills, Clemence Lynch, Pam Dalgleish & Marion Dick Kirsty Wood Angela Smith Elaine Alsop Scott-Moncrieff As a registered charity Playscheme cannot run without a functioning Management Committee. Membership of the committee is open to all parents whose children receive a playscheme service. Please join us to help ensure playscheme can continue to provide the vital service our children and families require contact Kirsty on elsnp@eastlothian.gov.uk for more information.

18 Please help us spread the word. Tell your friends, families and colleagues about East Lothian Special Needs Playschemes. Sign up to a personal challenge and help us raise much needed funds organise a cake sale, take on a 10k or even wash some cars! Become a friend of ELSNP, volunteer for us or donate through Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter SCO17097