Families struggling to 'cope' with reduced holiday club sessions for kids with complex needs

ITV News

6 days ago

The father of a neurodiverse child in Jersey says he does not know how other parents will cope if the island's only holiday club for children with additional needs cannot run more often.
Local charity Centrepoint currently offers sessions across all 14 weeks of the school holidays but only receives funding from the Government for half of that time, which it says has left it operating at a "massive loss".
The group's Chief Executive Officer, Jane Moy, told ITV News that they are only able to offer space for 30 children at a time, despite 98 families applying.
For James Barrett and his son Teddy, being able to access the sessions is "completely vital".
James explains he needs certainty over whether Centrepoint can take Teddy throughout the holidays to help provide his son with the sense of routine he needs to be happy and build relationships with his peers.
However, with the limited capacity, he sometimes does not know until a few days before the sessions take place, which James says causes significant stress.
Speaking about the challenges he and other parents would face if their children could not attend the holiday club sessions, James explained: "If they are not worn out, they will be up all night and that then catches up with all of us.
"If it wasn't for this, I don't know how any of the parents would cope, survive and be able to hold down a job because we don't have 25 days' holiday ourselves.
"Not knowing in advance is the biggest stress but there are lots of parents I know who don't always get all those days and it's then about finding the extra days out of your own holiday."
Seeking to address concerns, Jane said: "We try and prioritise where we can. We know some families don't have any support on the island, for example, and the parents work full-time.
"Even parents who don't work full-time still need support for those children because as much as they love them, it's hard work looking after a child with complex needs."
However, Jane admitted that without more government support, it is "really difficult to allocate sessions fairly and equally".
She added that Centrepoint had previously been well-supported by Government but believes it has recently been "thrown on the backburner".
Jane wants the Government to set out exactly how many sessions they will subsidise so the charity does not have to scramble to find enough staff at short notice, something Jane says is an "enormous amount of pressure".
In response, the Government said that this summer, 120 children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are being supported through the short breaks holiday scheme and that demand has always outstripped capacity.
The Government added that while Centrepoint is the only holiday club specifically accommodating children with additional needs, many others are inclusive and can take some of those children.