Partner Blogs

Those of us that are the parents of a child with additional needs, or who support a child with additional needs, so often put so much of our time, energy and focus (and rightly so) into helping that child or young person to thrive, to engage with the world, to ... read more

I’ve visited a few churches over the past couple of months and it’s been interesting ... read more

There are many ways that those involved in children’s and youth work can make a big difference for children and young people with additional needs or disabilities, and their families.  I often get asked what one change can make the most difference, can have the greatest impact, can enable lasting ... read more

The Gospels are full of miracles, amazing scenes of people’s lives being transformed as they encountered Jesus.  These miraculous encounters include children and young people with additional needs or disabilities who were healed or even raised from the dead.  Children like these: Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-24, 35-43)Jairus was one of the ... read more

You may know by now that mum passed away last week. You will also understand all that entails for me and Steve, my brother Dave and his wife Ali. I’ve so appreciated the closeness of the four of us over these last days as we’ve worked together to sort things ... read more

Halloween literally means the evening before All Hallows Day or All Saint’s Day, a day celebrated on the 1st November each year.  The name Halloween is a shortened version of All Hallows’ Evening which is celebrated on 31st October.  The origin and meaning of the festival of Halloween is derived from ancient ... read more

This weeks www.theadditionalneedsblogfather.com blog post is from a guest blogger, Nicky Ellis from ‘Horses and Foals‘ https://horsesandfoals.com who writes about how horse riding therapy can help Autistic children… Autism is a neurological diversity that can affect how a child develops.  An Autistic child can find it difficult to engage in good ... read more

For many people church as it currently exists in many, many places just doesn’t work, can’t work, won’t work.  And it’s not just people on the margins of society that this is true for, it’s true for the majority of the communities in which these churches are located.  It’s just ... read more

If a picture paints a thousand words, I wonder how many a video paints?  This four-and-a-half minute video, which I recorded with Urban Saints, provides you with seven tips to help and encourage you to make your children’s or youth work more accessible and inclusive, and to create belonging for ... read more

I said in my first Sabbatical blog that I was due to have a PIP face to face assessment last Thursday. Well, this was cancelled at the last minute and changed to today October 2nd. It was a good assessment with a lovely assessor. I must admit that I cried ... read more

Visuals come in many formats and we use visual images in many ways in church. Stained glass windows told the stories from the Bible to people who couldn’t read in times gone by.  When I was a girl, the minister used a ‘flannel graph’ board to illustrate the Bible story, ... read more

Have you ever tried body surfing?  Think surfing, but without a surfboard or body board, just using your own body and maybe a small hand board to ride the waves.  Just you, the surf, and the beach…  idyllic thought isn’t it?  So, what has this picturesque scene got to do with ... read more

Are you ready to learn a bit about diamonds?The conference I mentioned in my last blog was the Jewel ladies conference at Meadows Community Church – and it was there I learnt rather a lot about diamonds.I’ll be honest and say I don’t normally go to ladies conferences. I don’t ... read more

We've just had a wonderful holiday, and we are so grateful for the gift we get to make that happen. It was much needed and a huge benefit to both of us. The photo above was taken on holiday - whilst we were eating lunch at our favourite place overlooking ... read more