Little Pips
Mirfield, UK
Hollybank Trust is a registered charity formed in 1954, and based in Yorkshire, which offers a range of educational, residential and leisure services for people with severe and profound disabilities. Most of the people who use our services are wheelchair users, many do not have any verbal communication and several have life limiting conditions. I would like to ask for support for our “Little Pips” project, a family support and advice service for babies and children from birth to five years with profound and multiple disabilities. It is the only service of its kind in Kirklees and Calderdale and is the first step in Hollybank Trust’s mission of “Quality of life…for life”. It provides a combination of expert support and advice from a range of professionals (eg nurses and therapists from many disciplines) and peer support from other families whose children also have disabilities. We are currently able to provide this service for 28 families, free of charge, and it is the only service of its kind in the region. Specialists in pertinent areas (physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, speech and language therapy, play therapy and nursing) help families understand their child’s specific needs and fulfil their potential at all stages of development. Parents also benefit from the peer support from one another – making friends with families in a similar situation helps to reduce the isolation felt by many families with disabled children. Families who use “Little Pips” have told us that this unique service is invaluable to them as ordinary Parent and Toddler groups are not able to deal with the very particular needs that their children have. “Little Pips” costs £42,000 a year to run and we are also fundraising for specialist speech equipment and support cushions for disabled babies. We fully intend to continue providing this service free of charge to families and therefore need to raise the total amount from voluntary sources.
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