close search

Sensory on the North Sea

Funded on Spacehive 1 June 2022 Delivered 3 September 2023

Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.

Sensory on the North Sea

The Special Lioness By The Special Lioness

Giving children with disabilities and life limiting conditions the opportunity to be skipper of a Catamaran for the day to experience sensory regulation and input on the North Sea.

North Shields Delivery stage

28
backers
£6,626
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 01 Jun 2022!

This project will enable us to charter an adapted Catamaran for 10 days to sail families into the North Sea from Royal Quays Marina for an exhilarating trip for vulnerable disabled children who have been shielding for almost 2 years due to COVID-19 and who have not had access to their usual sensory input for regulating behaviour, emotional well-being and often medical input, this will give them and their siblings an incredibly bespoke and specific sensory experience combined with the memory making event for the whole family. This is an inclusive way of giving them a wonderful trip to help them gain confidence, give them a change of environment and a day to “get away from it all”, leaving behind the stress and worry of their medical fragility for a few hours, all whilst experiencing motion, smell, taste, proprioception, gaining vestibular input and having the opportunity to become skipper for the day.

What we'll deliver:

  • Hire of Adapted Catamaran for 10 days
  • 300 Attendees / Shipmates
  • Wheelchair ponchos for all children
  • Promotional Material

Why it's a great idea:

Disabled children and their families will gain an opportunity to have a bespoke, inclusive, adapted, sensory experience which will help with mental health, physical health/awareness and promote a sense of pride and belonging. These children most often cannot access leisure facilities due to their disabilities or special needs, the majority being inaccessible for wheelchairs or have a sensory-overload to specific needs, this gives these wonderful children sensory input on a vestibular and proprioception level, encourage independence as the children can skipper the boat and learn to drive in donuts. This is a once in a lifetime incredibly thrilling experience to create a unique memory for the whole family. Where else can you hop on a wheelchair accessible boat and learn to be your very own captain.

Steps to get it done:

  • Engaging with the SEND community to encourage participation
  • Allocating 300 places
  • Providing each child with their very own keepsake ticket
  • Purchasing waterproof wheelchair ponchos for each child
  • Attending the sailing across 10 days
  • Gaining photographs, video footage on each trip
  • Obtaining feedback from the families and WetWheels team

Sensory input for disabled children has been evidenced for many years, giving them a better understanding of the world around them, their own body and spatial awareness, all these things which able-bodied people take for granted. The parent carers of these children are often faced with limited social and leisure activities for their children which can have a detrimental impact on their mental health and in turn lead to increased isolation and loneliness, our group creates a wonderful friendly peer to peer support network which allows families to build relationships and support each other and helps to beat the stigma around disabilities and acceptance.

Location North Shields

About the space

Custom Location

Council

Sunderland City Council

How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees)  £6,362

Hire of Catamaran £500 per day x 10 - £5,000
Wheelchair Water & Wind Proof Ponchos £25 each x 30 children - £750
Advertising & Promotional Material - £200

Costs Breakdown

This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.

Hire of Catamaran £500 per day x 10
£5,000
Wheelchair Water & Wind Proof Ponchos £25 each x 30 children
£750
Advertising & Promotional Material
£200

Overfunding

This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:

  • Extra waterproof ponchos
  • Assistance with transport costs for passengers/guests

Target (inc. fees)  £6,362

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.

Want to help?

Do you have stuff or skills to contribute to this project? Use this tool to offer something to the project creator.

Volunteer
{{comment.UserName}} Creator Backer
{{comment.Comment}}
{{comment.Comment}}
{{reply.UserName}} Creator Backer
{{reply.Comment}}
{{reply.Comment}}