VIP Magazine Spring 2011 - Young Southampton

Special featureSouthamptonWinners of the Southampton Libraries’ wildlife art competition 2010 with Chris PackhamChildren from all over the area submitted artwork with awildlife theme. The event was held at the Central Library andChris spent time speaking to families and children and wasphotographed with the winners.Chris, who was born and grew up in Southampton is thepresident of many local wildlife charities, including theSouthampton Natural History Society, was really enthusiasticabout the competition and hopes to be involved in any futureevents like this.The award ceremony coincided with the end of another ofSouthampton Libraries successful events, Space Hop. This wasa Summer reading challenge, where children who read atleast one book a week over the holidays were presented withIn October 2010, Chris Packham,star of countless wildlife televisionshows, including “Springwatch”,recently returned to his hometownof Southampton to judge a wildlifeart competition.a medal from the Mayor. Almost 3000 children took part in thechallenge this year across all the City’s libraries – well done toall who took partspace hopThe wildlife art competition event took place on thesame day as the celebration of all children successfullycompleting Space Hop: the Summer Reading Challengein Southampton libraries and all children who readsix books received their medal from the Mayor. InSouthampton almost 3000 children took part in theSummer Reading Challenge in libraries this year-Hooray and Well Done!Short breaks fordisabled childrenThe first time you leave your child to be lookedafter by someone else is nerve wracking enoughfor any parent or carer. But imagine that yourchild also has a disability of some kind, andneeds special care and attention. How muchharder would that be? How would it affect yourrelationship with any other children you care for?Pauline Bubb is a parent of four year old twins and sevenyear old Spencer, who has a diagnosis of attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has been using the shortbreak service provided via the Buzz Network since July 2010.This scheme was set up using Aiming High funding and enablesparents and carers of children with disabilities the opportunityfor short break respite, using a support network from variousspecialist organisations.The process of signing up to the Buzz Network is very simple,parents/carers complete a short form, which can also be doneover the phone, and soon after receive a pack in the post.There are five organisations that offer one-to-one support,all specialising in different areas, and at present the level ofsupport equates to two hours a week. Pauline told us howit worked for her “we use an organisation called Smile andonce we were fully signed up, they sent us staff profiles to lookthrough to help choose a support worker. At first Spencer saidnone of the people looked “cool” enough, so we were sentsome additional profiles, one of which had a photo of a manwith tattoos and piercings, Spencer’s comment was “Yes! He’scool”. I asked for male workers, as he responds well to maleattention. Our worker came to visit and he and Spencer clickedstraight away”The short-break funding can be used for any activities orsupport, from helping parents and carers on a family day trip,taking a child or young person out or providing support withinthe home. Hours can be used flexibly, for example, four hoursevery fortnight, or eight hours a month. Over 300 families inSouthampton are signed up to the scheme and as well as oneto-onesupport, membership links families in to reduced rateholiday playschemes, such as those run by Mencap, Rose Roadand Sonus.Parenting and caringjust some of the activities children onthe Buzz network are enjoyingThe Bubb family have used their time for Spencer to goswimming every week with his one-to-one worker. This hasbeen very successful, Pauline said “It is so nice that Spencerwas fully involved in all the decisions and he has a new routinein his week that he really benefits from. He is very excited onMondays as he knows it is his night and he looks forward to it.Spencer’s Support Worker has told me how his confidence inthe water has grown and now goes under water. If he had goneto swimming lessons, it wouldn’t have had the same effect,because he wouldn’t have liked the structure. It has also givenme and his sisters a break”Pauline said this would never have been possible before as “Iam a single parent, so any activities I do, I have to take them allat the same time and its very difficult to cope on my own. NowSpencer has someone’s full attention for something that is ageappropriate. He loves his Support Worker because he almostlike an older brother to him”The Buzz Network is a partnership between Southampton CityCouncil and the A-buzz Parent Forum (for Southampton parent/carers of disabled children). Katherine Kerr is the co-ordinatorfor the scheme and said “The Buzz Network provides muchneeded short breaks and activities for disabled children inSouthampton. Many of our parents and carers rely on theservices to remain in work or to recharge whilst they take abreak from caring.”If you are responsible for a child with disabilities/special needs or would like furtherinformation on the Buzz Network, please contact Katherine Kerr on ☎ 023 8083 20698 VIP magazine Spring 2011VIP magazine Spring 20119