GRANT GIVES GREATER MANCHESTER’S SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN GREATER SCHOOLING CHANCE
A Manchester mum who has long championed practical support for special needs children and their families has been awarded £1,000 to further her efforts in helping ordinary families make sense of extraordinary circumstances.
Elizabeth Stanley, Director of social enterprise, Wraparound Partnership, was gifted the prize fund for ‘Innovation’ by the high profile regional charity, Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO).
In recognition of the positive difference Wraparound’s services can make to families that may not have the means, knowledge or perseverance to successfully navigate the health, social care and education system alone, GMCVO granted the sum to help champion a special focus on young people with additional educational needs as they enter their schooling journey.
Speaking as a parent of a child with severe learning difficulties, a former special education needs coordinator (SENCO) and founder of Wraparound Partnership, Elizabeth Stanley says: “It goes without saying that we’re thrilled to receive this much needed funding. We can now offer free support to a number of families we know will truly benefit from the insight we can offer and the team looks forward to listening, guiding and empowering these families as, together, we help their loved ones meet their full potential.
“I and many of my team know from first-hand experience how difficult determining the best way forward can be and anything we can do to ease that transition, personally, means a great deal to me.”
Since its inception in 2014, Wraparound Partnership has been a lifeline to 892 parents new to the world of special needs. The team has also supported 167 young people with issues, including mental health,that may be impacting on their education and successful integration into the world of work. It does so by working with families on a 1-2-1 basis, holding free monthly training sessions for parents and working with schools and professionals to offer specialised training.
The prize is officially presented at GMCVO organised event on 14th March 2018 ‘How to engage with the Greater Manchester Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector and the People they Reach’ which will be attended by health and social care professionals from across the region.
