Case Study from Seashell Trust
As coronavirus impacted on us all, being active was not the immediate priority for Families with SEND children and young people in Stockport as adjustments were taking place.
Some children were very anxious and parents had to consider the safety of their children and how to manage activity outside safely as activity centres closed.
Our aim was to listen, learn, support and inspire families to be active in their own home.
We created kit bags, a YouTube channel and webinar on how to get the most from the activity bags, activity cards with a QR code on it linking it to video content and a ‘live’ broadcast featuring a ‘coach’ beamed into families’ living rooms.
Family A: Their child saw some friendly faces, loved the kit and enthusiastically engaged with everything!
Family B: Said it was great that they could role model the activity to their child and can see what they can do and are unable to do, it was very eye opening and enjoyable!
Family C were so grateful for taking part as they said it took the hard work out of having to think and prepare something for the whole family to take part in. It was well delivered, really clear and can be adapted for different ability levels which was superb.
Every family has reported that this project has stimulated an increase of activity in the home and with their SEND child or young person.
The project has the ability to begin the process of behaviour change in parents / carers, being ‘activity activators’ in small simple steps within the home with their SEND child or young person and that, is what we wanted to achieve.
What next for the project?
We are going to carry out a ‘test and learn’ study with a group of 5 families where children are inactive over a period of 12 weeks, including the summer holidays. The aim of the project is to examine whether this intervention can sustain activity over a longer period of time.
We will continue to have further exploratory discussions around engaging with an interested partner who would deliver this project to their community with the aim of increasing activity levels in the home with the parent / carer being the ‘activity activator’.
Stephen Pearson
Community Engagement Officer and Local Delivery Pilot SEND Project Lead (Stockport Borough)
