Sensory on the North Sea

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Image 2 of 1

Funded on
01 Jun 2022

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.

£6,626 Raised of £6,362

28 Backers

104%

Our Delivery Report

Funded on 01 June 2022 | Delivered on 03 September 2023

£6,626

RAISED

28

BACKERS

91

DAYS TO FUND

BIGGEST PLEDGE

£4,954

From North East Combined Authority

£10

MOST POPULAR PLEDGE AMOUNT

600

people have visited this project!

Hours volunteering opportunities

200 Hours volunteering opportunities

Project Image

300 New users of sports or leisure facilities

The Special Lioness donated £135

More about our impact

The environment

By educating children and their parents about sea life, the environment and nature as a whole, we have instilled a sense of protection , care and responsibility about the world in which they live.

The local economy

We brought 300 people to North Tyneside from out of the local area over a period of 10 days and helped to build a relationship with the Port and the local amenities to encourage them to come back to the area, knowing it is clean, accessible, friendly and welcoming. By bringing children with additional needs, its gives them a sense of confidence in the area, repeat behaviour and a belonging.

Volunteering, jobs & education

After completion of the project, we were approached by 5 stay at home parents and asked if they could volunteer their skills and knowledge to the Charity and have offered over 200 hours of admin and event participation since and welcoming two new Trustees to our Board.

Activity, health and leisure

We have changed the perception of parents of disabled children by showing them opportunities which are out there for their children and to invest their time in researching more leisure activities and knowing that activity outdoors is good for the soul as well as mind. A vast majority of our families suffer with mental health issues due to the stress and anxiety they live with daily due to their childs health and we gained wonderful feedback about how relaxed they felt after the trip and revived after having such an exhilarating experience.

http://www.TheSpecialLioness.com

We are two parent carers of fragile, profoundly disabled children who for the last 5 years; have been carving a support network for the parents by the parents of disabled and special needs children and their families in and around the North East of England. We received our official Registered Charity Status in January 2020, cementing us in the world of providing a clear, consistent and transparent service. We have strived to become reliable and a safe place for parent carers to come to feel listened to and appreciated. We listen to what parent carers need, what gaps we feel are missing around our children’s needs, but also what the parent needs and ensure the siblings are included in everything we do and feel just as precious and special. Our aim is in two parts, yet is perfectly simple, firstly:

To advocate strength, courage and friendship; and
To making special memories with special families

We want to be the person we needed at the beginning of our journey, we want to be there to ensure no other parent feels they are alone, like they have the only disabled/special needs child and no-one can ever understand how that feels. We want to share knowledge to empower that parent, to gift them information, tricks, hacks, diversions, appropriate training and signs posts in the hope of reducing stress, anxiety, worry, loneliness, confusion and many, many wasted hours and sleepless nights.

Knowledge is power in our life, if you can find someone who has already done it and tried on the t-shirt, that saves an awful lot of battles and struggles. To find someone who already knows all the hospitals, familiar with medication, technical terminology and terrifying medical equipment and interventions.

A particular passion of ours is simply to help make ever-lasting special memories. It’s a difficult reality that a large percentage of our children have life limiting conditions, a lot will not reach adulthood, including our own children, and we have seen the impact this has on the whole family, on mental health and simply having the ability to get up and get dressed everyday can seem daunting and often a waste of energy. Therefore, we fundraise all year round to create safe and inspiring events to encourage these families to live in the safety and security of their own homes and put their trust in us to create often one-off events and experiences, to give the opportunities that money cannot buy and often tasks that simply feel out of reach.

Project Owner: The Special Lioness The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.

Contractor : WetWheels Yorkshire The team responsible for building or installing the project.