"Every Little Helps" as the slogan goes...

Whilst shopping this week I picked up the store free magazine.In it was the "Mum of The Year Winners " and one in particular caught my eye.Her name is Helen Wynne ,she is a mum from Wrexham.
As a childminder when Helen had her own son born with disabilities she quickly realised that facilities in her area were very limited ,so Helen and her husband set up a special childcare service called Blythswood http://www.blythswoodchildminding.co.uk.
It is very touching to here such stories and I feel so pleased for Helen that she has achieved this ,but it always goes back to parents who travel along this uncertain road with thier families have the drive and the passion to be able to help other parents and families ,as I hope my blog will help families looking for support to find information that will help them:) 
I have added the link to the BBC site  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-15979993
I hope you find the information and links on my blog site useful.

Online Support

My mum gets the Yours Magazine every fortnight and once read then passes it on to me.
Whilst having a little bit of "me time" and enjoying having a read ,I thought I would like to mention about the section called "sharing the caring " and in February`s edition which I was reading writes about online support and how valuable it is.For the majority of carers it is very isolating as sometimes the caring role means you are unable to easily get out of the home ,even to carers support meetings or for coffee with friends,where you would find support from others in the same predicament as yourself,and it just made me think for a moment that this is just the reason why I decided to set up this blog ,so people can have a means of support knowing that other families also are going through stressful times where Transition is involved.
Have a look at www.chill4us.com or the yours website www.yours.co.uk and see what support is out there :)

Mothering Sunday

Well today like a lot of families I will be celebrating parent hood by having my mum and mother-in-law for a lovely home cooked lunch for Mothering Sunday.
But it is always tinged with sadness, least for the years of being a mum to a child with severe disabilities and the heartache of wishing that this hadn`t happened to us ,that we should have been celebrating a "normal" family life doing "normal" family activities.
But with the loss of our beautiful daughter comes different feelings of happiness ... happiness for the wonderful years that we were given to share in a most unbelievable love and devotion.
So in an individual way we will be enjoying our celebration with love and affection for years gone by, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all mothers today .. what ever the situation xxxxx

Letting Go

I have to admit that although I recorded the BBC programme " Letting Go " I haven`t yet watched it ,but have read with interest comments that people have posted on facebook site transitionchild2adult@groups.facebook.com.The only thing I can say without having seen the programme is that in my experience from all the heartache and hard times our daughters disabilities caused us over the years ,the time from 14 - 19 years of age was by far the most stressful any family will have to face.The best advice I could pass on to any family is do as much ground work as you possibly can through social service means and the internet which has a vast information data.If the relavant agencies involved with your childs transition don`t meet up at given transition meetings make sure you are the go between and personally make sure that all information is passed on.It has been for these exact reasons I have set up this blog site which I hope as time goes on to help families through this maze with support of knowing that you are not alone and some useful information.

connexions

I read with horror in our local newspaper that "connexions" in our area is to close at the end of this month.
Connexions is run by the local council to help youngsters access work or college.
What on earth is going on !!! is there to be nothing left for help ,support and information.
When my daughter was leaving school we had some input from our connexions branch ,although her complex needs did mean there was little help that could be channelled in our direction I am only too aware that young adults who could with P.A support were helped to access college courses and other work placements.
Lets hope soon there will be good news to write and talk about.

Remploy

My heart sank when I heard the news yesterday about Remploy factories closing.
In the present climate it is really hard for anyone to get into the work place never mind if you have additional disabilities.
I felt quite emotional to hear some of those who will be affected talk about prospects of going into the mainstream work place and the threat of bullying that they may receive there.
I really don`t know what this government is thinking ,and if there is to be alternative back ups well lets hear about them!!
Transition from children`s services into adult services is and always has been an extremely complicated procedure but with closures such as Remploy and other care cut backs it is really difficult for families to keep positive about the future of their youngsters ,but positive you must be :)

I`m Back

Hi all,
Sorry for the lack of posts but I`ve been on my "jollies " so now it`s back to business :)
Firstly I must mention that a relative of mine who lives in Australia runs the Australian Blind Cricket Team and they have an international game with the Great Britain team in May in the midlands, for anyone who may be interested in this event I will post more details of dates and time nearer the event.
Also just a mention that the Disabled Living have an exhibition on Thursday 29th March 2012 - 9.15am till 4.30pm at the Jaguar Exhibition Hall in Coventry called Kidz In The Middle , you can find out more information on  their website  www.kidzexhibitions.co.uk