Mission


Ours is a simple yet challenging mission: “…to empower, care for and inform parents and families of children with disabilities in West Sussex through the provision of services that meet their individual and collective needs.”

Background


The organisation is the brainchild of two parents of children with disabilities, our Project Manager, Brian O’Hagan, whose son James has cerebral palsy, and our Chair, Sophie Spearman, whose son Ethan has Autism.

In early 2008 Brian and Sophie undertook a survey of the support needs of parents of children with disabilities in Worthing. The results suggested there are a myriad of ways in which parents and families need support – in better understanding their child’s disability, providing them with and accessing specialist care, coping with and taking a break from their caring responsibilities, and in maintaining and enhancing family life.

In short parents told us they need a ‘one-stop-shop’ of services accessible under one roof, including professional counselling, information, advice & training, respite, advocacy and help in accessing other benefits, rights and services.

2009-12 Business Plan


Whilst we have a clear vision of what we want to achieve being a new organisation we realise it will take some time to develop the full range of services we want to deliver.

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We are therefore working on a 3 year business plan which will chart our course towards establishing the following by the end of 2012: - 

1. Establishing a professional counselling service for individual parents, couples and siblings
2. Recruitment of one part-time Family Advice Workers
3. Researching, writing and editing an exhaustive parent’s guide to benefits, rights, services and grants
4. Establishing a monthly timetable of training, workshops and seminars
5. The provision of a fundraising advice service to individual families and to other relevant organisations

Charity Registration


The organisation was registered with the Charity Commission on the 10th August 2009. Securing charitable registration was an important step for us not least because it enables us to to widen the scope of our fundraising and enjoy the tax benefits of Gift Aid.