SEND Activities & Short Breaks | Shropshire

Actio - Inclusive Activities in the Community

Helping you live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Actio is a dynamic partnership between Energize and PACC (Shropshire’s Parent Carer Forum). Actio is dedicated to improving and developing activity opportunities for children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their Parent Carers in Shropshire.

Actio aims to enhance the range, quality, and accessibility of activities, supporting children and young people with SEND to thrive. Actio manages the 'All In Short Breaks' activities commissioned by Shropshire Council available to eligible children up to 18 years.

Learn more about the range of activities available and discover how Actio can support your child’s wellbeing.

Participating in community-based activities can have significant health and well-being benefits for children with special educational needs and disabilities. These activities provide opportunities for social interaction, physical exercise, and learning new skills. Engaging in such activities can improve self-esteem, reduce stress and anxiety, and increase overall physical fitness. Additionally, community-based activities can help children with disabilities to build strong relationships with their peers and develop a sense of belonging within their community. By providing inclusive and accessible opportunities for participation, communities can promote the health and well-being of all children, regardless of ability.

We are a Shropshire based consortium supporting groups and organisations to host activities, training, and events to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. We provide funding and support to enable local opportunities to take place to help your child flourish socially, independently, and safely. We also ensure all opportunities available meet a minimum quality standards ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for you and your family.

We offer two memberships. For children aged 0-18 with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, you can be a members of "All In". For those aged 18-25 with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, you can become a member of "Actio".

All providers are required to share with us the membership numbers of those attending sessions and activities, so it is really important you provide this and your child's one page profile at the point of booking. This helps us to know what activities are working best for which children and young people, and can help us commission better in the future.

We commission activities at what is called a 'Targeted Level of Support'. Actio fund a range of providers to host activities which are made available to our All In Short Break members (for those aged 17 and under), or our Actio members where they are aged 18-25. All providers are required to share with us the membership numbers of those attending sessions and activities, so it is really important you provide this and your child's one page profile at the point of booking. This helps us to know what activities are working best for which children and young people, and can help us commission better in the future.

As we provide activities at a Targeted Level of Support, this means that our providers DO NOT offer one to one support for children and young people or respite services. Facilities and staff are not always able to cater for specialist needs, such as personal care, requiring a hoist to transition onto equipment, support with eating, specialist medical needs (for example PEG feeding or line changes), or administering medications.

If your child or young person needs help with anything that is considered to be specialist care or requires a one to one, this must be arranged by the family through the most appropriate service or team you are supported by. This could be that a parent carer stays with the child or young person to offer assistance, a Personal Assistant already working with the child or young person could support them, or a family member / trusted adult.

If your already in receipt of a personal budget, you can talk to your Social Care Worker about how this can be used to support your child to access these activities safely and while having their specialist needs met.

All activities are suitable for children and young people with a range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Some activities may be more suitable than others for those with mobility needs, complex care needs, or behaviours that challenge.

However; if your child or young person requires support for personal care, a 1:1 support while accessing the activity, or requires additional equipment when accessing activities, we ask that Parent Carers speak to providers prior to booking. This will ensure the activity is suitable and if you require a personal assistant to attend with your child or young person, that the provider is able to accommodate additional adults on site.

Please note that providers are not obliged or funded to provide 1:1 support. This support should be provided by an appropriate person identified by the family or young person (which may be funded through social care or the participation fund at Shropshire Council.