Over the week the team hosted nine different activities sessions, including yoga, dancing, cookie baking, and a Slime Time game show, as well as creating four additional videos of content to be consumed at any time. A total of 40 children, from 26 families, attended the collection of online sessions, with the team’s sign-a-long version of ‘Keep Holding On’ hitting more than 600 views. 

Lily Felstead, short breaks co-ordinator at Diverse Abilities, commented: “It is so important at this current time that we maintain some contact with the children we support and their families. We feel it is important they feel connected to us still and we can offer some familiarity in a time when the world is ever changing. 

“We have noticed that although our sessions are online and some of our children and young people can’t engage in this way, others have really engaged in activities with us, more so than usual perhaps. We have still had a lot of fun and made lots of memories, just in a different way to how we would usually. I think some of our sessions will be talked and laughed about for a very long time!”

The team also provided a small number of one-to-one sessions for families requiring additional support in the community and eight families were able to attend the charity’s facility in West Moors. While these slots were limited, it meant that a service could be provided safely to give face to face support one family at a time.

Lily added: “We would like to thank our families for getting on board with the online sessions, and trying something new, which we know is scary, but hopefully they all agree that this was the next best thing to face to face sessions.”

The Short Breaks team would also like to thank Squidge and Pop, Jamie Jigsaw, and DDA Dance Days Academy for helping to provide a selection of these sessions over the week. 

One of the parents supported added: “I’m not sure the girls and I would have survived this week without these activities. They have loved each one they have participated in, specialist I’m A Celebrity – I was very surprised that she ate all the mealworms! We also loved the magic show, being shown how to do tricks, making cookies, and the pamper morning too. Thank you to you all for being such great sports! It is all greatly appreciated by the children and adults alike. This could have been a really tricky week with no structure and anxieties about what was happening, and these activities have really helped.”

Visit diverseabilities.org.uk/children for more details on the services provided for children with special education needs and profound and physical learning disabilities.