I thoroughly enjoyed networking at the SEND family fun day yesterday hosted and organised by Southampton Parent Carer Forum held at Oasis Academy Mayfield school, for families across Southampton to attend.

It was a great day. With almost 1500 people through the door! Lots of activities for children from messy/sensory play, free fruit, biscuits and squash inside (free tea/coffee for the grown ups) including VR experience, crazy creatures, face painting and much more to riding a unicorn, inflatable laser tag and meet the ambulance and police service outside! Including an ice cream van where everyone got a free ice cream with a token.

Along with Sailability, with whom I engaged. They have invited me along on any Monday or Thursday to Testwood Lakes to see what their service is all about. The activity is fully accessible for wheelchair users, as they have a special hoist to transfer people into the sail boats (amazing!) I also had a chat with Suez from Wetwheels Foundation who i am joining for an accessible boat trip later in April in Hamble, Hampshire! Part of my role as Community Health Engagement Officer for the West Hampshire, Southampton & Isle of Wight wheelchair service is to sought out accessible activities in the local area to share and recommend to our service users to promote wellbeing.
I was also placed directly next to the Learning disability health facilitation team at the event, also directly next door to the Living well partnership team who i learned quite often refer patients to the wheelchair service (That was handy). They had lots of questions about Personal Wheelchair Budgets which i was more than happy to answer. They've actually invited me along to a fortnightly meeting amongst their team to talk about the wheelchair service and supporting patients/service users and the PWB options.

I had a few service users approach me with questions, which i was happy to accommodate. A few charity details provided to others to help them obtain equipment for their children and young people. A nice touch was the communication boards supplied to each table this year, to allow those who are non-verbal to communicate with us easily - very inclusive! Also the little thank you card and chocs in a goody bag for the vendors and stall holders.

Well done team SPCF 😁 it was lovely to be a part of the day to represent Ross Care and the local NHS Wheelchair service in West Hampshire, Southampton & Isle of Wight.

Emily Galton
Community Health and Engagement Officer
West Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Wheelchair and Repair Service