SEND Carers United is a user-led community offering mutual support for local parents/carers of children with additional needs, in the Wokingham and surrounding areas.
We started off as a small Facebook group in March 2015, which was created because although there were many great groups offering support for children who have got a diagnosis or particular need identified, there didn't seem to be a place for those who don't have a diagnosis or aren't quite sure where their child fits in terms of their needs. There are also many families with children who have a variety of disabilities and we thought it would be great to have one central place with as much information as possible about various additional needs.
This group soon turned into a real community and over time has become a lifeline to many parents/carers for a variety of reasons. In the early days many of us were strangers who chatted on the internet, but we now offer regular parent/carer meet ups and have formed strong real life friendships. It can be so lonely being a parent/carer of a child with additional needs and our strong community can really make a difference!
As well as supporting each other, we try and share as much information as possible to help our members access support from other amazing local charities. We only have a small group of volunteers running this group and we all have our own children with additional needs so we also rely on our local charities and community to help provide us with information that will help other members. We are very grateful to everyone who assists with this.
