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Group offers space for SEND children to 'flourish'

Amy Garcia & Fiona CallowYorkshire
BBC A mum poses with her arms around her children. On the left, there is a young boy with short brown hair and glasses wears a white t-shirt with black stripes. He uses a wheelchair. On the right, a young girl with blonde hair, wearing a blue top.BBC
Phoenix (left), pictured with mum Lora and sister Blake (right), has attended SNAPS since he was a baby

A group enabling children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to access physiotherapy and other leisure services provides an "environment that kids can flourish in", parents have said.

SNAPS supports more than 150 families in West Yorkshire through weekly sessions which include music therapy, swimming and football.

Phoenix, 10, attends a social session where he channels his love for dance and entertainment. The budding star is a wheelchair user, and describes SNAPS as "incredible and remarkable".

Last year, the charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) received a £117,683 grant from BBC Children in Need to support its service provision.

Based at sites across the Leeds area, the CIO accepts referrals from across the country, and children do not need a formal diagnosis to join.

Phoenix has cerebral palsy, and has been attending SNAPS since he was 12 months old.

His mum Lora said the family have formed long-lasting friendships with both staff and other service users.

"There's just so much to access here. It gives us a lot of emotional support as well because having a child with a disability can be quite difficult at times," she said.

"When you come here you just feel uplifted with the support."

A father and mother pose on either side of their child, smiling. The man has a dark beard and wears glasses and a jacket with a white fleecy collar. The woman has a silver nose ring and dark hair and wears a black jacket. The young child wears a bright yellow long-sleeved top.
Jermaine and Dominique said access to the pool has helped their daughter Imaam

Her daughter Blake, five, regularly joins her brother at the centre, and Lora praised the inclusion of the wider family in sessions.

"It's just lovely that she can have somewhere that she belongs," she added.

"It's really helped her with her understanding of children with disabilities as well because I think that's a really important thing for us all."

Imaam is also a regular service user, in particular of the hydrotherapy sessions at Penny Field School in Meanwood.

The six-year-old has a rare genetic condition which affects her motor function, but has made physical advancements since attending SNAPS, according to her parents.

Jermaine, Imaam's father, accredits her progress to the CIO with "creating an environment that the kids can flourish in".

A young girl wearing a patterned swimming costume, goggles, armbands and a swimming cap stands in a swimming pool. Behind her, a box of waterproof toys can be seen.
Six-year-old Imaam attends hydrotherapy sessions at SNAPS

Mum Dominique said: "Imaam's moved from bum shuffling to being able to stand alone.

"She started walking on her fourth birthday, which was an amazing thing to happen."

Alongside "greater strength and co-ordination", her daughter's mental health had also improved, she said, adding: "she loves being in the pool."

Jo Milburn, children's services manager at SNAPS, described Children in Need funding as a "massive" benefit to the centre.

"It has a massive impact on our hydrotherapy delivery and the services that we deliver.

"Without that funding, we possibly couldn't give those chances to our children."

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