I was very pleased to read the news this week that our wonderful local charity, SNAP, which supports families of children with special education needs, has joined forces with two other Essex charities – BOSP and Hamelin – to create a new Essex-wide Disability Alliance.
Between them the three charities support people who are neurodivergent, have learning or physical disabilities, or live with life-limiting illnesses. By working together, the charities’ individual specialities can be used to strengthen support around those who need it the most. The three groups have also made it clear they are able to help families navigate what can be a hugely complex system of assessments, funding and care.
I know only too well from my constituency casework over the years that the transition from children’s services to adults’ services is often particularly tricky, so having SNAP and BOSP, who deal with children and their families, working with Hamelin, which supports disabled adults, promises to be a very helpful alliance.
I have a good relationship with the team at SNAP, and am a great admirer of the work they do, so I look forward to finding out how this disability alliance will improve services for my constituents, and also to hearing from the charities’ CEOs about what they feel needs to be done to smooth a rocky path for families with disabled children and adults in their midst, and improve the continuation of care from childhood to adulthood.
