Group’s space is a ray of Sunshine
AN organisation that provides support to parents and teachers of children with special educational needs has opened a multipurpose space for families in the city.
Sunshine Support has moved into a 1,000 sq ft unit in Prime Business Park, Spondon, which will be used to host some of the events previously run online.
The organisation is planning to hold workshops, exercise classes and chat sessions and house its Derby staff.
Founder and mum-of-four Chrissa Wadlow said: “We are so excited to finally have our own place which will be a safe space for families and carers of children with additional needs. We have absolutely loads of room to run trauma-responsive movement, health and wellbeing classes which are important as a stress reliever for parents, but also for neurodiverse children who can panic when they feel their heart rate increase.
“And we will run workshops to really empower parents who need support with the endless paperwork for things such as education health care plans and disability living allowance. I hope it will become a safe space for home educators and we’re also planning pamper treatments for parents, with or without their children present.
“There is no end to the ways we can use our hub and I’m really proud that what started out as ‘a few workshops’ has turned into a lifeline for thousands of families across the country; and I have turned my own negative experience into something that helps others.”
The new space also has a film studio and many of the events will be recorded so they can be viewed by parents across the UK.
Chrissa said: “We don’t just support neurodiverse families, many of our staff have been diagnosed with autism and ADHD. What that means is that we have had very real input from people who have walked in the same shoes as some of the people we are here for, so we have been able to design a space which is entirely workable for them.”