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Newsletter 7 May 2007
There seems to be a lot going on in SCARF at the moment with a week of activities at Forest Arts, the Scout Camp approaching and the newYouth Club about to start. Information on the Programme for the Summer holidays will be sent out in June. We are very fortunate that Ian Mason Smith and the Hampshire Scouts have received a grant of about £3,000 from the Local Network Fund to run the Scout SCARF camp this year. This time a disabled scout group from Gosport will also be participating which will be a great experience. If you are interested in taking part in the Camp please get in touch as soon as possible as the weekend is fast approaching. If the idea of spending a night under canvas is too daunting for you and your family, bear in mind that you can come as a day visitor and enjoy a full day of scouting activities, games, water fun, camp fire etc. You will be free to sneak off to your comfortable bed when you have had enough leaving the rest of us to enjoy our deflating airbeds and the early morning dash to the portaloo. Can't wait! Sarah Newman, Chair
MIDAS training It would sometimes be useful to hire a minibus to take children out on trips and visits, but we need trained drivers. Are you MIDAS trained or would you be prepared to do the training and help out occaisionally? If you are interested please let us know.
SIBS group The first SIBS group ran very succesfully finishing with an afternoon of tower building at Calshot Activity Centre. The feedback from children and parents has beeen very encouraging. A second group for children aged 7-9 is is now in full swing on a Tuesday night. YOUTH CLUB We are delighted that the new Youth Club will start in June. It will run on Tuesday evenings from 6.30 to 8pm at the Young Farmers Club, Wootton Road, Tiptoe. Julie Timmins will lead the group, supported by Jane Bryan. Julie used to be a youth leader in Ringwood and now teaches at Forest Edge, while Jane has worked for many years with children with special needs. The group is for children aged 11 to 16. There will be different activities for the children crafts, table tennis, outdoor games, a chance to buy tuck and some trips out. We would really like to get some young volunteers aged 15+ to support the young people at the group. Some young people might use this experience for community service, Scout badges or their Duke of Edinburgh Award. If you know anyone who might be interested please do mention it . For more info call Alison Dibdin on 01425 616019 Tennis The Saturday tennis sessions are continuing very succesfully at Sway with Peter. However, we find it difficult to collect the subs each time. Since most children are regular attendees, the Committee has decided to introduce an annual charge of £10 per child. This would entitle your child to free tennis sessions for a year - which would be pretty good value as they are currently offered every 3 weeks or so. Send cheques to Lynn White Obviously you can still pay as you go if you don't want to commit to the year or just want to try it out. Special 'Collis Curve' Toothbrushes If your child has difficulties cleaning their teeth, you may be interested to hear of a company that makes special toothbrushes with curved bristles which are much less damaging to gum tissue and more effective at removing plaque. For more information see the website www.colliscurve.co.uk And to order contact Lynn White on 01425 619030
GIFT AID As a charity, SCARF can claim from the Government an extra 20% of any subs donations and membership we receive because of the income tax that has been paid. If you are a SCARF member and pay income tax or a family member pays income tax, please fill in a GIFT Aid form. It will not cost you anything, it does not affect you and once you have signed up it allows us to claim the extra 20% on anything you pay or give us subsequently. To get a form call Lynn on 01425 619030 Help needed In the autumn I am going to start an MA at Southampton University and will not be able to put so much time into SCARF. The Committee could therefore really do with a bit more help running what is now quite a wide ranging and exciting programme, as well as trying to bang the drum for children with special needs in the area. Is there anyone out there who could give us a hand. We could do another member or two on the Committee but, if you do not fancy that, there are some specific jobs that do not take too much time eg:
Writing the termly newsletter Organising the programme of activities Publicity: sending in occasional reports to the local newspapers Helping with mailouts to members
If you are at all interested please give Sarah Newman a ring on 01425 611199 It has been announced that Forest Edge School and Salterns School are to merge into a single new primary school from autumn 2009. For more information see www.hants.gov.uk. Every Disabled Child Matter As you may know a group of charities has combined to conduct a campaign to enable children with special needs and their families to lead ordinary lives by getting more support from the Government. Many members I am sure signed up to this campaign. The Committee had decided to support it by inviting our MP Desmond Swayne to meet us to discuss the problems that we face and ideas we had for solutions. The meeting was scheduled for the end of June and we were going to notify all members. However, on Monday the Government published its report 'Aiming Higher for Disabled Children:Better Support for Families' which contained a funding package of £340 million package to provide:
short breaks for families
This is fantastic news and new services should come on stream by 2010 In the light of this it did not seem very sensible to pursue the meeting with Desmond Swayne at this moment in time. However, we will keep an eye on the improvements in services and perhaps invite Desmond to meet us at another time For more information on the campaign and on the Disabled Children's Review 'Aiming Higher for disabled children' see the Every Disabled Child Matters website ww.edcm.org.uk.
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