Over 80 families who have children up to the age of 25 years old with special educational needs and/or disabilities in Portsmouth attended Local Offer Live at Cosham Community Centre on Thursday 9 November.
Community groups and services who support those with specialist needs exhibited to provide support, advice and guidance on what is available in the area.
Councillor Suzy Horton, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at Portsmouth City Council said:
“Portsmouth has a fantastic network of support groups and experts who can help families. However, one of the challenges is knowing who to speak to at the right time.
“Local Offer Live is the perfect opportunity to come together as a community, where different services can make referrals and new support networks are formed with families to help them in their daily lives.”
Alongside exhibitors, families who attended were able to watch presentations on neurodiversity, sleep advice and how to make ordinarily available provision work in school.
Olufolake Ayeyemi who works at Portsmouth Parent Voice (PPV) and exhibited at the event shared her views on the importance of meeting people. Olufolake said:
“People value face to face contact. We can provide advice but also signpost people to whoever is exhibiting in the room to better support their needs.
“We spoke to many parents and carers who found the event really useful. I look forward to learning more about people’s experiences from the event as we look to build upon its success in future years.”
Portsmouth SEND Local Offer is a Portsmouth City Council service that supports families with children and young people up to the age of 25 years old with specialist needs.
For more information on local services, parents and carers can visit www.portsmouthlocaloffer.org