Our Voice

Black History Month is an annual celebration, marked every October in the UK, that's dedicated to exploring, and honouring the achievements of people of African and Caribbean heritage.

Black History Month is a significant period for reflection, celebration, and education about the diverse history and contributions of Black individuals. Black History Month is marked in a huge variety of different ways and in the UK, it is frequently celebrated through events, such as musical or literary performances, live talks and discussions, Black history exhibitions, documentary or movie screenings - or even markets and festivals that celebrate the food, jewellery, clothing, art and more of African and Caribbean cultures.

The theme this year is 'Reclaiming the narrative', which is about taking control of narratives, honouring heroes, and challenging the stories that have often overlooked the contributions and achievements of Black individuals in the UK and globally and looking at how we can shape and mould our truths and challenge misconceptions and to educate all those within our society and in our communities.

Disability Rights UK has a great article here highlighting the links between Black History Month and disability rights and also featuring some important black disabled activists and figures 

You can see information about Black History Month events in the Enfield area here.

We have also gathered together some information about just a few of the many disabled black role models which you can see here - including links to some interesting interviews. 

We'd like to know what you think!

 
We are putting together our programme of speakers for our coffee mornings at the Family Hub and would really like to hear your views about what topics you’d like us to cover and who you’d like to hear from, as well as your thoughts on the coffee mornings in general. Please complete our short survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/coffeemorningchoices – it should take less than 5 minutes but will help us to plan the best events to support you and your families. Thank you!

Family Fund is a charity which offers grants and other support for families raising disabled or seriously ill children or young people up to the age of 24 years old, on a low income, living in the UK. 

Grants can be given for a wide range of items ranging from domestic items like kitchen appliances and bedding, to clothes, play equipment, computers and more.

See the website for details of eligibility criteria and how to apply: www.familyfund.org.uk

• Leaflet on grants for essential items and wider support services
• Leaflet on 'Your Opportunity' grants for supporting young adults aged 18 to 24 who are living at home. 

Family fund also provides a range of information services and workshops including where to go for help with money and benefits, and how to find help with your child's education, mental health and wellbeing. 

They also offer online digital workshops, to help you make the most of your iPad, tablet or computer. More information in the 'Discover Digital' leaflet. and the website here.

The Fair Play playground in Barnet is a fully accessible and inclusive playground for children and adults with disabilities and their friends.  

It is located at the Victoria Recreation Ground, Lawton Road, New Barnet EN4 9BS (next to the New Barnet Leisure Centre) - more information on the location here.

More information including videos from park users: 

•  First of its kind ‘Fair Play’ playground opened by Mayor of Barnet | Barnet Council
• Video | Facebook
• Video from park user

The Enfield Psychology Service (EPS) offers a telephone support line which gives parents and carers an opportunity to talk to a member of the EPS team about any concerns they might have in relation to their child. 

See the flyer at https://www.enfield.gov.uk/educationalpsychologyservice/telephone-support-line-for-parents-and-carers

You can either request a call using the link on the flyer, or by phoning 0208 379 2000.

Our guide to what's on over the school summer holidays for children and young people with SEND is now available here.

The Local Authority booklet on playschemes can be found here. 

Contents include information about sports and local leisure activities, days out including London and local zoos and museums and schemes aimed at teenagers.

Please note that this guide relates to externally provided activities and schemes and inclusion in our guide should not be taken as endorsement by Our Voice of any particular scheme, venue or activity. Information is up to date and accurate to the best of our knowledge, but please do check in advance with individual providers before you go. 

Not all activities will be suitable for all children/young people, so please do talk to individual providers about whether they can meet your child/young person's individual needs. 

We have listed below a few of the different schemes and activities that we are aware of (also included in the guide) and we will continue to add to this list and update the guide as appropriate.

• ECYPS Teenscheme - an inclusive programme for ages 11 - 17- flyer here
• Summer Uni - an inclusive programme for ages 11 - 25 (19 for young people without SEND) including a SEND-specific programme (see page 5 of the brochure). Details here. You will also need to register here on the Enfield Youth Portal if you haven't already done so. 
• The Enfield branch of the National Autistic Society are continuing their series of play sessions for Autistic children and their siblings - sessions during the school holidays will be on Sundays 28th July and 25th August - details here.
• Enfield Advisory Service for Autism are running their summer holidays playground sessions at Russet House School on 15th August (8th August session is fully booked)- pre-booking only. Details and booking here. 
• Get with the Kids Vibe are running a SEND summer play scheme on various dates from 29th July to 30th August, at Enfield Cricket Club on Lincoln Road. Details on the flyer here. 
• SEND Summer Cycling scheme - information on the flyer here
• Enjoy Enfield this summer is a programme of activities for children, young people and families. It is not SEND-specific but you can use the filters to select SEND events for children, teenagers and families. Details in the brochure here and the website here.  

We've put together a short round-up of some of the social activities, coffee mornings and support groups for parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs. You can see the guide here (last updated 15th July 24)

We know that being the parent/carer of a child or young person with a Disability or Special Educational Need can be isolating, and hope that some of these activities will be useful in giving you opportunities to talk to other parents facing similar issues. 

The Annual Health Check is important for anyone aged 14 and over who is on their doctor’s Learning Disability Register. It is intended to help individuals to stay well by talking to a doctor or nurse about their health to find any problems early, so that they can be sorted out. 

The NHS has a useful page here setting out the key facts about annual health checks including what should happen at the appointment, and there is also a helpful video here.

There is a useful easy-to-read leaflet from Mencap setting out this information which you can use to help your young person to understand what will happen.  

Key points to note:

o   Adults and young people aged 14 and over with a learning disability and who are on the doctor’s practice learning disability register should be invited by their doctor to come for an annual health check.

o   The Learning Disability Register is for individuals of all aged who have a learning disability. It lets staff at the GP practice know that a person has a learning disability and may need reasonable adjustments.

o   If you have not been offered an annual health check you can ask for one. If the doctors practice say no, you can ask your local community learning disability team to help you get one

o   The NHS has to make reasonable adjustments to help disabled people use health services. This could include things like providing information in easy read format, booking longer appointments, allowing a carer to be with you in your appointment, booking you an appointment at a less busy time (if you find it hard to be in a busy waiting room). There is a useful video here.

For more information see the presentation from our recent health conference here.

NDTI have produced a useful toolkit for London GPs showing how they should carry out Annual Health Checks and what should be included - you may find this useful as a tool to ensure that your young person's check is carried out correctly. You can see a copy here. 

Family Fund offers free support to families raising a disabled or seriously ill child(ren).

Discover Digital workshops are free and are here to support parents and carers to use technology and to encourage children and young people to be creative with their devices.

The support that Family Fund provides covers everything from:

• skills workshops on how to use your iPad, from learning about accessibility features, to how to use parental controls.
• creative workshops for the whole family using fun, free apps you can get on your iPad.
• social stories workshops to help parent/carers create quick and personalised social stories from their own home.
• money support workshops to help families maximise their benefit entitlement.

You can see more information in their booklet here. 

You can also find additional information on the Family Fund website.

If you have any questions about the Discover Digital programme or need support signing up for a workshop, the Family Fund team will be happy to chat through this with you. You can also call them on 01904 550066 for more information.

Contacts: 

Rachael and Heather
Email digitalskills@familyfund.org.uk 

Call 01904 550066