Whoopsadaisy Newsletter Spring 2011

Whoopsadaisy Newsletter - Spring 2011 A charity for the benefit of children with cerebral palsy and other motor disorders Registered charity 1083024 Hop House, 41 Church Road, Hove, E Sussex BN3 2BE ……..Tel 07588 555761

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Whoopsadaisy has had an exciting, very busy, colourful, and eventful couple of months since our last newsletter of Summer 2010. Whoopsadaisy has never been this vibrant before! There is lots of news we would like to share with you this Spring regarding our extended operations, our exciting past and future events, and fundraising activities.

Let‟s start with our most recent and very successful event.

Auction Party Whoopsadaisy was selected from a number of local charities to take part in the new ITV1 Auction Party series hosted by Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.

A team of four people, “The Avengers”, represented our charity: Julie- Anne Gilburt (a famous local artist supporting Whoopsadaisy), Elliot Maurice (friend of Whoopsadaisy), Nina Holland (founder) and Caroline Matanle (executive administrator). With the help of Julie-Anne‟s group of artists at JAG the team were able to „up-cycle‟ artefacts, and along with donations of artwork from Barry Surtees, Faye Whittaker, Eddie Kidd, Julie-Anne Gilburt and Lester McGoogan, the event made over £4,000 for Whoopsadaisy.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event so successful. Please watch out for the programme being aired mid-March on ITV1.

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School for Parents for 0-5 year olds Our two well established groups on Mondays have been working hard and progressing steadily.

Oliver‟s mum says: “His balance is getting better and he is communicating more. He also responds better generally.”

Ferris‟s mum says: “Ferris has really benefited from attending Whoopsadaisy. We are able to practice what we have learnt at home, especially all the songs - which Ferris really enjoys!”

Let us share with you the progress of Carys, a delightful Oliver at Christmas little girl with a range of difficulties who has been attending Whoopsadaisy‟s School for Parents with her mum since November 2008. At that time, aged two, she was able to sit on the floor and had just started to crawl - the developmental age of a nine month old baby. She was not able to put weight on her feet or walk as her legs were lacking tone and strength, her feet were turning inwards and her co-ordination was poor. She could only say a few short words, and these were only understood by those who knew her well.

Within two months, she learnt to be on her feet more readily. She also started to join words together when communicating and started to identify colours. After six months, her parents said: “Carys really benefits from coming to Whoopsadaisy in a very holistic way. She also loves it! Her confidence and ability to move about has increased - both with the walking frame and within the parallel bars – and her knowledge and vocabulary have greatly improved.”

And 14 months into her work with us, Carys learnt to walk independently.

She is currently learning to tackle obstacles and uneven surfaces when walking.

In addition to the two Monday groups in January 2011 we have launched a new Tuesday group for babies.

A very warm welcome to Maya who is 10 months old and to Archie who is celebrating his first birthday in February. Happy Birthday Archie!

Both babies attend our classes with their mums who are very much hands-on and eager to learn how to help their children at home in order to boost their early physical development. It is best for children to start

Happy birthday Archie!

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Conductive Education at as early an age as possible, when they learn more quickly and their bodies are more flexible. The emphasis is on developing physical skills (e.g. reaching, rolling, crawling, sitting, standing and taking steps) however we also focus on sensory, social, communication and language skills. All these aims are “wrapped up” in lots of fun activities such as Welcome Maya! singing, enjoying instruments and games such as peek-a-boo, row the boat and meeting crocodiles and chasing soft toy doggies on all fours across the room. Beata (Head of Conductive Education) has never had so much fun before!

New children of all ages and physical difficulties are very welcome in our 3 young groups. If you are interested please get in touch with Beata on 07533 956 149. or e-mail: beata@whoopsadaisy.org Outreach service As part of our Outreach service we have also been working on contributing to the children‟s statementing process to ensure that their needs are understood and that they get the right support when they start school next year.

We have an open and friendly approach and we welcome visitors from children‟s nurseries, schools and other professionals such as physio-therapists, portage and play workers. We have had volunteers from schools and nurseries working with us in order to learn from us and support the children in their settings with our philosophy and techniques in mind.

Saturday School for 5-12 year old children Joe It is crucial that the progress made in the weekly pre-school sessions is not lost once the children start school. This is why, unlike many other organisations in this field, we also offer services aimed primarily at children in mainstream schools who would benefit from our input to further develop their physical skills and independence.

In October 2010, we re-launched our fortnightly Saturday School, first piloted in 2009. In addition to developing skills (and having fun!), the three-hour Saturday School sessions also give parents and carers the opportunity to discuss with us any difficulties the children may be having at school, and ways of overcoming these problems.

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Aliz (our experienced Saturday School Conductor), keeps detailed notes about each of the children‟s individual progress and developmental goals, and devises a theme for each session to ensure the children all have great fun while they explore and develop their potential. Joe had great fun talking about the snowy weather and all the fun things we can do in it and made a beautiful painted candle holder to take home for Christmas. After all that chilly weather, the theme for the first session this term was „Going Out‟. We took an imaginary trip to the park for football, and learnt that paper could be folded to make a boat that Jayden in a self made hat with conductor: Aliz floats, which Brandon enjoyed blowing across his little lake. Jayden thought it made a nice hat!

Of course, all the while the children were working to improve their sitting, standing and walking skills, improve their balance and coordination and fine tune their manual dexterity. Enjoying time together with other members of the group and sharing in each other‟s achievements also offers great opportunity for social development and communication.

All essential aspects of boosting the children‟s independence.

We‟ve had some very positive feedback about our Saturday Brandon School.

Joe‟s Mum has noted “Joe‟s mobility is improving - he seems stronger and more confident”, while Brandon‟s Mum says „The service is fantastic, Brandon looks forward to coming to every session”. We are fortunate to have a committed team of volunteers (Eleanor, Katie and Jamila) who work with Aliz to ensure the children really make the most of each session, and allow parents and carers to take a well earned break if they wish.

New face at Whoopsadaisy My name is Sarah Thomas and I‟m the new Manager of Services for 5-12 year olds at Whoopsadaisy. I‟m taking over this role from Beata (who‟s a very hard act to follow, as I‟m sure you‟ll agree!), so that she can focus on developing the services for children under 5.

In practice this means I‟m the person who‟ll be doing all the organisation behind the scenes for the Saturday School and for the Easter and Summer Holiday Clubs this year. I‟m working closely with Aliz and the other Conductors to ensure our existing services run smoothly and to identify new opportunities for developing our work to make it as widely available to this age group as possible.

I‟m very excited to be a part of Whoopsadaisy‟s valuable services, and am really enjoying getting to know all the children and their families and the team of volunteers.

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Holiday Club Following on from our successful Holiday Clubs during the Summer and October half term last year, weâ€&#x;re planning to run two more clubs this year at Easter and in the Summer, each for two weeks. We have more than 30 families on our books who have expressed an interest in our Holiday Clubs.

Each club offers a daily, five-hour Conductive Education session. Aliz, who is now well-known by the children in our Saturday School and Holiday Clubs, will be working at the Easter and Summer clubs this year. We expect to recruit at least one more Conductor to work alongside her, depending on how many children attend, to ensure everyone has lots of quality time with a trained, experienced Conductor, as well as having lots of holiday fun!

Each of the children will also have the one-to-one support of a volunteer. We are working this year to develop our existing training and induction programme for our volunteers.

As in previous clubs, parents and carers are welcome to stay for the sessions, sharing experiences and picking up ideas and tips. However, they are also welcome to leave their child in our safe hands while they take a break.

Dates for this yearâ€&#x;s Holiday Clubs are as follows: Easter Holiday Club: Weekdays, 11th - 22nd April 2011 The theme is spring, growing and exploring how Easter is celebrated in different countries around the world.

Summer Holiday Club: Weekdays, 25th July - 5th August 2011 If you are interested in the Saturday School or the Holiday Clubs please contact Sarah by e-mail: sarah@whoopsadaisy.org to reserve a place.

Volunteers We are always looking for new volunteers to help in our Holidays Clubs. It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know a world-famous, highly successful method and gain hands on experience in how to enable disabled children to gain maximum independence.

Whoopsadaisy is the only place in East Sussex that practices Conductive Education.

Volunteering is subject to an enhanced CRB police check. Our volunteers can get a nationally recognized certificate for their work. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Sarah.

We need further support! To maintain and further expand our services, we constantly need to raise more funds. We are always looking for people to carry out their own fundraising ideas for us, be it a sponsored event or completing a personal challenge. For fundraising ideas please look at our website or contact Caroline Matanle on 07588 555761. We are grateful for any support no matter how big or small.

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Our next big event is the 2nd Brighton Marathon on Sunday 10th April. After last year‟s astounding success we now have 28 runners competing on the day. Brave contestants include relatives of children at Whoopsadaisy, two of our staff and the Chairman, Jon Orrell and other friends of Whoopsadaisy.

Everybody is in full training now and very excited about taking part in this amazing challenge. If you would like to sponsor them please go to www.justgiving.com, and please come along and support them on the day by cheering them on which we are sure they will need. You will find us at the start line at Preston Park, half way outside Mazelino‟s shop (next to Hove library) on Church Road and at the finish on Madeira Drive. Come on guys it‟s only 26 miles to go!!!!!

A Whoopsadaisy Marathon runner’s story by Mike Thomson We first heard of Whoopsadaisy in 2008, through a friend of Beata‟s. Our eldest son Daniel spent about 18 months having some wonderful Monday afternoons with new friends in the Whoopsadaisy activity room. He used to love all the singing and clapping, stretching and catching, obstacle courses and other creative play that really helped Daniel to improve his mobility in some amazing ways.

Sometimes, his little brother Rico would come along to the sessions too and he had an equally enjoyable time.

Daniel is now at primary school and doing really well. My wife Sandy and I are so pleased that he can get around independently. The Whoopsadaisy sessions gave him a lot of confidence as well as greatly improving his balance and mobility. We have continued to take an active interest in the great work the charity does. Last year, Sandy and I ran the Brighton marathon and raised nearly £1,000 for Whoopsadaisy. This year, I‟ve roped my Dad and brother into the „race‟ and we‟ll all be raising more money for such a tremendous cause. My brother and I are taking the event very seriously indeed and have already picked out our Super Mario Brothers fancy dress costumes. We hope to raise even more money for Whoopsadaisy this year to support the excellent work that they do.

Fundraising!

We have had a vibrant six months of fundraising. We have received unprecedented support from trusts, grants, companies and individuals. So a BIG THANK YOU goes to: The Gladstone Pub- for their three day Gladstonebury Music Festival in aid of us and their on-going collection pot; Paddle Round the Pier for enabling us to be one of the three chosen charities at their July 2010 beach event; Marathon runners for their sponsorship and hard training efforts; The two Sussex Community Foundation grants from the Cullum Family Trust and the American Express Fund; First Tuesday Club for their Christmas Fayre; Barbara Ward Children‟s Foundation for their on-going support; Carol Harrison for Cash in the Attic; Brighton District Nursing Association Trust for their grant; Lynda Myers Solicitors for their donation; Millies Cookie‟s for the collection pot; Jeremy from indulgencecupcakecompany for their donation of cakes at our Auction Party; Hart Reade Solicitors for their donation; Brian & Karen Coomber for their donation of toys and books; Trustees of Stella Symons Charitable Trust for their donation; Boshier-Hinton Foundation for their grant; The Preston Brewery Tap Pub for the collection pot; Professor John Kusel for sponsorship for 10k run; Windlesham School for Christmas Carol Service Retiring collection, Hemsley-Orrell Partnership for giving us free office space, Helen Palmer, our wonderful volunteer without whom we could not survive, for accounts, grants, fundraising, operations and knitting!! And all our funders and supporters.