BBC Children in Need Feed

CATS for Kids

2014-09-22T14:03:51+00:00

CATSYPP after-school groups are so in demand that they have over 60 young people on their waiting lists. But the 55 lucky young people who already attend each week won’t be giving up their places any time soon – because the clubs have literally changed their lives.

The young people at Children on the Autistic Spectrum Young People’s Project have all been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. And as such they have difficulties communicating, making friends and managing their emotions. Supported by BBC Children in Need funds, the CATSYPP clubs – nicknamed CATS - are so much more than places for them to go to enjoy themselves: they also help improve their social skills and confidence and increase their level of independence in a safe environment.

Many of these young people would lead largely isolated lives without CATS: it was set up by Wendy Williams and her colleague Rob in response to the concerns of parents of high functioning autistic children of mainstream ability, who found they were excluded from an after-school social life because of their immature social, interaction and communication skills.

One of the original members of the CATS group in Reading is Tom, a 15-year-old adrenaline junkie who loves filmmaking and experimental cookery, inspired by wacky chefs like Heston Blumenthal.

Thomas

Tom – himself now a proud peer mentor at one of their two clubs - is not only dealing with the social and communication difficulties inherent in Asperger Syndrome but faces further education and health challenges. Tom is dyslexic and struggles with co-ordination and inattention, making reading, writing and concentrating through the school day extremely difficult. In addition, Tom has a genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 1, which means that throughout his life, tumours will grow along the nerves inside his body and on his skin. He currently has several tumours in his chest. And while the inspiring teenager continues to cope well with his numerous daily challenges and hospital appointments, Mum Nicky says that before he began attending CATS he had no real social life outside of school. As a result, it has been a lifeline for Tom - and his whole family.

“It is so much more than respite care for the parents and family,” says Nicky. “It’s a place that young people with autism feel part of; where they can have fun, enjoy going to and feel 'normal'.”

CATS and its peer-mentoring programme aims to support as many autistic young people as possible and has been a huge success.

“They identify which areas the teenagers are struggling with, such as communicating with the opposite sex, listening, boundaries and what is appropriate,” explains Nicky. “They explain how to do everyday activities that a 'normal child' would either pick up automatically or would learn from 'hanging out' with friends and peers. These are all things which our autistic children don't pick up and don't do - either because they generally have no friends or because their common sense, safety, or appropriate communication skills are so lacking, they would not be safe doing these things without an adult present.”

CATS guides Tom and his friends in all these key areas whilst making it fun and social so it doesn’t feel like a chore.

CATS founder Wendy says she has seen a huge change in Tom. “Tom has come on brilliantly in the three years I’ve known him in terms of social confidence and independence but the biggest change I’ve seen in him is that he now consistently shows an interest in the thoughts and needs of other people and how to engage appropriately with them."

“So he might now ask his mum about her day rather than expecting just to talk about himself. The positive feedback he gets from this has been a huge boost to his self-esteem.”

Tom is also extremely proud of his job as a mentor at the club, and for the support he receives from his own mentor, Dan. As Nicky admits: “Having a 'cool' teenager to learn from rather than 'mum' - there's no contest!"

A grant from BBC Children in Need, made possible by your donations, funds the costs of running two CATS groups in Reading and Maidenhead.

“If it wasn’t for CATS, Thomas would be playing on his computer at home most of the time and I would be incredibly fearful about his future,” says Nicky. “Last year he turned to me and said: ‘I have a very full life don't I mum?’ For a child who had no life outside of school, apart from trailing around after Mum, this is nothing short of a miracle.”

Thomas Rockclimbing

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Happy Easter from Toby, Lucas and Stamford

2014-04-17T10:25:27+00:00

Toby, Lucas and Stamford are getting into the Easter spirit by colouring in Easter eggs! For these children though, it’s not just about having fun. All three have cerebral palsy, a condition affecting the part of the brain that controls muscle movement. By learning to hold the pencils correctly and colouring within the lines, they are also developing crucial co-ordination skills.

Toby with his mum Pippa

They all go to The London Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy in Muswell Hill, a specialist centre for children with cerebral palsy which is supported by BBC Children in Need. It’s open every day for families to come along and take part in free tailored sessions, helping children to reach their potential.

Toby is five and has been attending sessions at the Centre for three years. When he first started going, things were really hard for him. As a toddler, he had been developing perfectly until an accident left him with severe brain injury. He was in hospital for a long time and doctors said he’d never walk or talk again. He had little functionality and couldn’t even swallow. But Toby’s been slowly proving the doctors wrong. Incredibly, he started talking last year and his mum Pippa is overjoyed to be able to have a conversation with him. He’s also on his feet and walking unaided, something Pippa never thought she’d see.

Lucas and his mum Anne

Lucas is four and started going to the Centre last October. Since then, he’s learnt to walk on his own and his speech has improved. When he was asked at nursery what he most enjoys doing, he replied: “When mum picks me up and takes me to Muswell Hill”, meaning the Centre. He goes there to play, make new friends and, crucially, become more independent.

Stamford and Kata, a conductor funded by BBC Children in Need

Three-year-old Stamford is a Chelsea-mad football fan and has been going to the Centre for most of his life. He was born with cerebral palsy and has been attending sessions since he was only one years old. He has made fantastic progress, after being told by doctors he would never walk. He’s gone from shuffling around on his bottom to walking unaided. And he never stops smiling! Despite being visually impaired and having limited speech, he can still name every single player in Chelsea football club!

Thanks to your fundraising efforts and generous donations, we’ve been able to help children like Toby, Lucas and Stamford. Find out more about the projects we fund in your area, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news.

Paralympian Ben and the Back Up Trust

2014-03-12T13:43:52+00:00

Congratulations to 19-year-old Ben Sneesby who was competing in his first Winter Paralympics in Sochi, and came 11th in the sit-ski slalom! Before competing Ben took time out to talk to us about an organisation that was so important to him during his formative years.

Ben in action in Sochi (Getty Images)

Ben joined The Back Up Trust when he was eight. Funded by BBC Children in Need since 2003, it’s an organisation that delivers outreach, rehabilitation and participation activities to under 18s who have spinal cord injuries across the UK.

Every year 40-50 children and young people will sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI) through either accident or illness leaving them permanently paralysed. They can go on to have issues at school from access to buildings, difficulty with social relationships and not being involved in decisions that affect their lives. Depression and anxiety can also be a factor and there is an additional strain on siblings and parents as the family adjusts.

Ben on his way to Sochi (Getty Images)

Ben, who was born with an SCI and uses a wheelchair to get around, first slid onto a dry ski slope when he was 11 but this might have not been possible, had he not already been part of Back Up for two years.

“I got involved with Back Up when I was very young, and went on the very first course for kids when I was eight. I learnt lots of wheelchair skills which helped me to have the confidence to be independent and mobile. The activity course focused on what I could do, not what I couldn’t. Later I went on a drama course in London, which was my first independent stay away from home without any family support. It was amazing, and helped me develop in confidence. It has stayed with me; I’m now able to travel on escalators anywhere in the world. The skills the courses give people are for life not just the duration of the course!”

At 13, Ben was talent spotted and invited to become one of the first members of the British Disabled Ski Team Youth Development Squad. Then when he was 15 he trained to become Back Up’s first ever under-18 skills trainer where he supported other young people to be confident and independent in their wheelchairs. The organisation clearly saw that this was a successful strategy and to this day run a dedicated volunteer programme where young people can learn about leadership, how to deliver support and really challenge the perceptions of what is possible for those living with mobility impairment. For Ben it seems there’s no slope too high.

Ben (bottom right) and the ParalympicsGB team (Getty Images)

“I’m off to Sheffield Hallam University to study Sports Science in September and to continue developing in sport and grabbing the opportunities and challenges life throws at me. Back Up has helped me develop in all areas of my life, physically, mentally and socially. It is difficult to measure what might have been, easier to say how fantastic it is and that Back Up has played a major part in so many wonderful opportunities in my life.”

At Sochi Ben competed in the Sit-ski Slalom and Giant Slalom categories. An absolute inspiration to everyone, we wonder how many budding Paralympians are currently cutting their teeth at The Back Up Trust?

Thank you to all our fundraising heroes!

2013-11-22T14:27:52+00:00

Here at Pudsey HQ we’ve had a little bit of a celebratory week - last Friday our cracking Appeal Show saw us raise a record-breaking £31.1 million – a remarkable amount that we couldn’t have reached without the support of fundraising heroes from all over the UK. Not only were we honoured to see such a wide variety of fundraising activities, we saw all these wonderful activities translate into a remarkable on-the-night total. It'll make an unspeakably huge difference to the lives of thousands of children and young people all over the UK, and right where you live. So, on a celebratory note, let’s take a quick look at what a select few of our fundraising heroes got up to last week.

Firstly, a great big THANK YOU to the wonderful students in the LEAP group at Crosby High in Liverpool. These brave warriors took to their bikes to battle against the elements in a fundraising bike ride! The battle wasn’t in vain – the rocking riders raised a wonderful £300! Crosby High teacher Lesley Hall got in touch to say just how proud she was of her heroic students!

As you may know, our biggest fundraising theme this year is ‘heroes’, and we’ve been asking all our supporters to get out there and prove themselves heroes in the name of Pudsey Bear! Our next shout out goes to a group of teachers who took this theme to the max! Staff at Galliard Primary School in London asked all the whole school to dress up as something starting with the letter ‘P’. We bet the pupils at the school were delighted in the morning when instead of being greeted by their familiar teachers, they were instead greeted by a group of rather nifty fundraising Power Rangers, presumably taking a day off from fighting intergalactic monsters to focus instead on tackling unruly classrooms! The group proved to be heroes indeed, raising an astonishing £671.00 for BBC Children in Need, and they evidently had a cracking time doing it. A big thanks to Luke Dedman (the everyday alias of the Red Ranger!) for sending in the below photo.

Staff at Galliard Primary School get set for a day of epic fundraising!

Another brilliant group of fundraisers which illustrate nicely just how varied the groups we received support from this year truly were, are the The Screaming Eagles Living History Group are a collective of history enthusiasts. The group attempts to utilise their historical knowledge to accurately portray the events surrounding the 101st Airborne Division of World War 2. Each year the Eagles raise money for a chosen charity by walking the training routes of the US airborne, located in Aldbourne.

This year the walk was a great success, with a number of enthusiasts coming out to walk the route dressed in full combat gear! Alongside these, veterans from the original 101st airborne division had come over the USA to lend support! It was quite a wet and soggy day but the determined fundraisers from the 101st Airborne Division marched on regardless and kept their spirits up! Pudsey himself even got involved, learning how to march like a true soldier! At the end of the day, after everyone was warm and dry, it was agreed all involved had a wonderful time, and what’s more, quite a lot of pennies were raised for Pudsey, too – over £3,000!

Pudsey gets in line with The Screaming Eagles!

Our last hero comes from within our own rank of troops – the BBC! Chris Yanda, based in our BBC offices in Salford, made a very unusual proposal this year in an attempt to bring in the big bucks for the Bear. Chris promised to cycle one kilometre for each pound he raised for BBC Children in Need. There’s nothing that unusual about that, you may be thinking, but here comes the fundraising masterstroke – Chris vowed to cycle each mile in a tutu! If you’ve been recently bewildered by a Tutu-clad cyclist zipping around Manchester, then this just might explain it! You can check out pictures of Chris’ adventure on his Justgiving page, and why not donate a few more pounds to see him go even further? Thanks for all your support Chris!

That’s it for this week’s round-up, we’ll be back next week to celebrate some more of our glorious fundraising heroes who have helped to make this year such a success. If you’d like a mention, we'd love you to get in touch and tell us about all your fundraising. Simply email your local address on this page, and tag us @BBCCiN on Twitter and Instagram or @Pudsey Bear on Facebook. It’s easy. So go, help us celebrate your decision to #BeAHero!

Disability Awareness Day - Meet Ethan & Graham from BIBIC

2013-07-15T13:48:57+00:00

Today is Disability Awareness Day (Monday 15 July). 200 babies are born each week with a disability. Doctors describe someone with a disability as having an 'impairment' which makes it hard for them to do day-to-day things. But many people say it's not someone's impairment that stops them from doing things. It's because society isn't set up to include disabled people. For example, some places aren't easy for wheelchair users to get into because there are so many steps or because the disabled changing rooms aren’t big enough to accommodate their motorised wheelchair.

We wanted to highlight how your money is helping children and young people with disabilities, children such as Ethan. BBC CiN currently funds around 580 projects reaching approximately 130,000 disabled children and young people. One of those projects is BIBIC in Somerset.

Ethan was four days old when he had his first seizure. It was a frightening time for his parents, who didn’t know what the jerky movements were. They mentioned them to a doctor at a routine appointment and the doctor was concerned. His mum, Naomi, stayed at hospital with him while he had numerous tests and scans. Naomi worried that she’d never leave hospital with her son in her arms.

Ethan receives support from a therapist funded by BBC Children in Need at BIBIC

She said: “It was the worst feeling in the world to see my new-born baby going through all this pain and suffering. This was the time we were supposed to be excited that after nine long months of waiting, our precious baby was here.”

The seizures continued – sometimes Ethan had 15 a day – and he began to lose the skills he had gained in the early days, like the ability to smile and focus on his parents and objects around him. It was heart-breaking. By 18 months, his seizures were more controlled and he was only having a few a week.

A few days before his second birthday, genetic tests showed that he had the condition ARX – aristaless related homeobox. This causes epilepsy and affects development. His mum and dad were upset to be told he would have the condition for the rest of his life but they were determined to make that a full and happy time. Naomi asked around and a friend told her about an organisation called BIBIC in Somerset. She read some of the stories on their website and arranged an appointment. She met an experienced therapist, whose position is funded by a grant from BBC Children in Need.

The therapist observed that Ethan, who was then nearly two, couldn’t support his own head, his hands were bunched into fists and his development was delayed in all areas. But he loved listening to nursery rhymes, he paid attention to various lights in the sensory room and make loud noises to show that he wanted an activity repeated. He loved rough and tumble play and would giggle infectiously when he was swung around in his dad’s arms.

The therapist drew up a regime of exercises and activities for Ethan to practice for half an hour every day and Naomi and her family carried out the new ‘workout’ routine methodically – often involving Ethan’s grandparents if they were looking after him for the day.

Graham's role is funded by BBC Children in Need to help support children like Ethan

Within four months, Naomi could see a difference in Ethan’s mobility. Instead of having closed fists, he was more relaxed. He started to be able to control his head and hands. After playing with sensory toys, he could now open his hand and grasp objects for a short while. He relearnt to lift his head after playing while lying on his tummy on a sloping board. He could make a wider range of noises and stand with support.

Naomi was delighted to see her son progress and said: “I am over the moon that I can help my little man to finally start to develop. Who knows, I might even see him sit up or walk in the future.”

Ethan’s programme is continually revised and new goals are set as he grows older. A two-year grant of £68,848 contributes towards the salary of full-time therapist Graham Valentine at BIBIC so he can set up a personal development programme for children like Ethan, to enable them to reach their full potential and enjoy the world around them.

To find out more about how your money makes a difference to children and young people all across the UK, please visit our Who You Help section.