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Free Sensory Rooms In Half Term |
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The popular Sensory Rooms at Redbank House in Cheetham Hill are back - for free! Families need to live in the Manchester City Council area and have children and young people with disabilities and additional needs to access this offer. The rooms are available from Tuesday 1st to Friday 4th June, with sessions starting on the hour for 50 minutes:
- Room 1 - 10am, 11am, 12 noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
- Room 2 - 10am, 11am, 12 noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
It’s for children from the same household, with a max of 4 children and up to 2 carers in Room 1 and a max of 2 children and up to 2 carers in Room 2. No food allowed. Additional cleaning products are available to help keep within COVID-19 guidelines. Booking essential – call 0161 214 5959 or email info@redbankhouse.com. This activity has been made possible through funding from Manchester City Council.
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Culture Is Back In The City
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Culture in Manchester is back and there is going to be so much to enjoy! Go to Visit Manchester and you’ll find reopening museums, galleries and libraries, theatre performances and film, music and dance and a special section with events just for families.
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Manchester Flower Show - Starts 29th May!
The Manchester Flower Show is bigger than ever this year! Across the city centre, shop windows, doorways, balconies, public squares, fountains and even statues will go green (and red, and pink, and yellow). It’s from Saturday 29th May to Sunday 6th June and you can find out more here.
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Museums & Galleries Re-opening
The city’s museums and art galleries are opening back up again. Check out each site for visitor information, including opening hours, booking tickets, and how restrictions might affect your visit: Manchester Art Gallery, National Football Museum, Museum of Science & Industry, People’s History Museum, HOME, Manchester Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, Castlefield Gallery, Museum of Transport Greater Manchester
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Manchester Jewish Museum on Cheetham Hill Road opens on Friday 2nd July following a £6 million redevelopment. It includes a new gallery, café, shop and learning studio & kitchen as well as a complete restoration of the stunning 1874 synagogue.
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Just a reminder that Manchester Parent Carer Forum are creating newsletters about local museums and cultural places with the help of 4CT Limited. Read the first edition.
Library News
Manchester International Festival
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This year’s Manchester International Festival opens on the 1st July with Sea Change, an amazing large-scale dancework down Deansgate. Your young person (18+) could be one of 160 Greater Manchester residents taking part! It’s open to all, whatever fitness or movement level and absolutely no dance experience is required. The piece will be making dance from everyday movement, from simple repetitions to more physically demanding moves for those able, creating a huge human flipbook as the audience goes past. We’ve had a chat with Gareth Smith, the Engagement Coordinator, and he encourages young people with additional needs to apply. This can be as an individual or with a carer or parent, as long as everyone is over 18. In Question 7 of the form, write ‘SEND news’ in the ‘Other’ category so Gareth knows where you heard about it. Also use the form to tell him how he can best support your young person to take part or contact him on 07874 870406, gareth.smith@mif.co.uk. Read more and apply here. Closing date: 1st June.
Sea Change is just one of the fantastic free events in #MIF21 from July 1st-18th. For COVID-safety, you’ll need tickets for most of them, so don’t delay! See the full programme here. If you’d like to receive news about access performances, you can register for an MIF account, selecting the access options.
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A new year-long project from Archives+ and Manchester Libraries gives the city’s 11-25 year olds a chance to create a record of their life during lockdown.
‘On This Day Last Year’ is aimed at children and young people with additional needs, care leavers, children in care, young carers and home educated young people. Everyone taking part will receive a free art pack and meet in small groups for one or two sessions. These will be online to begin with but there will be more opportunities for face to face meetings later in the year. The workshops will give young people the opportunity to voice their feelings about their experience during lockdown, including what they have missed, new routines they have formed, and what could help them in going forward. They will express these feelings through a creative piece of their choice, whether artwork, poetry, creative writing or photography, and these will be displayed at Archives+ in Central Library. To book on or find out more, email siobhan.o'connor@manchester.gov.uk.
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Youth Zone - Harpurhey
As Youth Zone is currently closed at the weekend, their Inclusion Session (disabilities and/or additional needs session) for 8-25 year olds runs on a Friday 4-6pm (4-6.30pm from 11th June). All new members can join on the website and need to attend a New Members Meeting before joining sessions. Due to restrictions, there’s a waiting list of new inclusion members but don’t let that put you off applying. If you’d like more info, contact Corrina at corrina.aitchison-hayles@manchesteryz.org or 0161 203 5333.
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HideOut Youth Zone - Gorton
There is a Sunday Club every Sunday from 11am-3pm at the HideOut for young people aged 8-25 who identify as having additional needs or a disability. It features all the usual Hideout fun - sports, team games, design, sensory art, guided meditation, music-making & production, cooking, gardening, rock-climbing, and everything in between! Membership is £5 for a year and 50p for each visit. Sign up here. You're welcome to contact Emily, the Inclusion Co-ordinator for a chat -
emily.aris@hideoutyouthzone.org or call on 0161 511 3777. Once a young person is a member, they can book activities through the website. If someone struggles getting online or isn't confident using the booking system, Emily can book them in.
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Powerhouse - Moss Side
The Powerhouse youth offer has started back up with sessions that are inclusive to all. There’s a Junior Youth club (8-13 years) on Mondays 5-7pm and a Friday Senior Youth Club, 6.30-7.30pm. These are open access with no need to book. Also on Fridays, ‘Mix It Up! Arts’ offers young people aged 10-16 and 16-25 a taster of lots of different arts, bringing ideas to life with the help of professional artists and leading to an official arts certificate. Email reception@mcrpowerhouse.com or call 0161 226 4335 to register. If you’re on Twitter, follow the Powerhouse to keep up date - @msmpowerhouse.
Up until the summer holidays (except Bank Holidays), Odd Arts is running free drama workshops for confidence and wellbeing on Mondays at the Powerhouse: Drama drop in (9-13 years), 4.45-5.30pm, and The Platform (14-19 years), 5.45-7.45pm. Sign up with Odd Arts at yasmin@oddarts.co.uk. If a young person has additional needs, let Yasmin know and they will be supported to engage and have fun.
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Youth Involvement Team - Wythenshawe
The Youth Involvement Team at Wythenshawe Community Housing Trust runs a free Ability Group every Tuesday evening 6-8pm at The Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre in Wythenshawe. These are SEND open access sessions for 13-25 year olds and an opportunity for young people to engage in fun activities based on sport, arts & crafts and skills for life in small groups within Government guidelines around COVID-19. Young people need to be signed up using this online form. Enquiries to youthinvolvement@wchg.org.uk, 0161 946 7543.
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Every year the Hearing Impaired Service hold a Poetry Competition for all the Hearing Impaired children within Manchester. This was the 25th year of the competition, judged by the actress Catherine Russell (pictured). Catherine connected with children in the Hearing Impaired Base at St. Andrew’s Primary School in Levenshulme after they started following her reading of ‘A Christmas Carol’ on YouTube and using it as inspiration for artwork. She shared poems with them to inspire further creativity and they were thrilled when she agreed to judge the competition. The Visual Impaired Team also took part this year. The theme was ‘Trees’ and you can read the winning poems here.
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LATEST NEWS! The children’s artwork - A Caterpillar Sat Upon a Lettuce Leaf – has made it into a Royal Academy Art Exhibition! The Young Artists' Summer Show 2021 launches on 13th July where it can be viewed online. Congratulations everyone!
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Vaccinations
Parent carer Margaret shares her experience of finding the right support for her adult son to get the vaccine. Her story raises important issues around reasonable adjustments under the Equalities Act for learning disabled people to receive the vaccine in a sensitive and supportive way.
Where We Are On The Roadmap
From May 17th, restrictions have eased further. You can read a summary of Step 3 on the Roadmap here – there is also this easy read version. Here is an updated list of what we can and cannot do, including guidance around meeting friends and family, physical activity, work and weddings. If you’re feeling confused by the changes to the rules and guidance, then go to https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/do-your-bit/ where you can find out how to #KeepDoingYourBit to keep yourself and others safe.
Free Rapid Testing
Manchester people are encouraged to take free rapid tests for COVID-19 twice a week, every 3 or 4 days apart. Regular testing is an important part of the easing of restrictions and getting life back to normal. You can go to a local test site, collect home test kits from participating pharmacies and libraries (you get a pack of tests), and order kits online. Find out more here.
In this video, Maqsood Ahmad, Chief Executive of the British Muslim Heritage Centre shows how easy it is to pick up free rapid test kits from a pharmacy.
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Carers Week
Join Carers Manchester for a range of free activities for this year’s Carers Week, 7th-13th June. From coffee mornings and support groups, to walks and holistic treatments, the activities are about showing that the city’s unpaid carers are visible and valued. The following online workshops are available:
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Welfare & Benefits - Tuesday 8th & Thursday 10th June, 10.30am-12 noon
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Managing Stress - Tuesday 8th June, 2-4pm
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Worry v Problem Solving - Thursday 10th June, 2-4pm
Book here and find out more about Carers Week and activities on the Carers Manchester website.
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Children Behaving Badly - The National Children's Bureau has released a statement in response to the government's announcement of new school behaviour measures. It highlights the importance of schools taking a holistic view to behaviour, being supportive rather than blaming children. NCB hopes the Secretary of State will take the advice of Sir Kevan Collins, the Education Recovery Commissioner, and take a rounded approach to children's educational recovery.
Manchester Deaf Centre newsletters - Scroll down their Home page to sign up to Manchester Sign Post (for service users and the D/deaf community) and Lip Pattern (for professionals, volunteers and stakeholders).
Kidz to Adultz magazine – Issue 12 is packed with interesting articles, personal stories and advice, including emotional wellbeing for parents of disabled children, top tips for helping children's fine motor skills, support for children with bedwetting problems and the Venue to Virtual - The Disabled Living Collective in late June.
Here’s the latest North West SEND Regional Network News – May 21.
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Have Your Say
The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) are looking for disabled young people and young people with special educational needs aged 11-24 to be part of their young people’s advisory groups. The YNCB Advisory Group is made up of children & young people (11-24) who get together to help decide and plan what work Young NCB does. Young Research Advisors (11-24) help the NCB Research Centre as well as other Research Centres from around the country. Both groups meet 6 times a year and the young people will need to be able to travel to London, expenses paid, once face to face meetings start up again. More information here – please feel welcome to arrange a chat with Hope. Closing date: 14th June.
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The DAVE group at Manchester Deaf Centre has been busy thanks to Cracking Good Food, Clay Studio Manchester, The Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Cultural Education Partnership. Check out their video. Find out more about the DAVE group here.
The National Deaf Children's Society have redesigned The Buzz, the only website for deaf young people aged 8 to 18 in the UK. It’s a safe, online space created by deaf young people for deaf young people and offers a platform where they can read inspiring stories, connect with others, find the latest information and support, sign up to events, ask questions and get involved. See this animation to find out more.
Proud Connections is a brand-new digital support service for LGBT+ young people and the adults who support them. The one-to-one web chat is a first port of call for LGBT+ young people wanting to speak to a trained youth worker, from where they can be signposted to further services such as youth groups or mentoring projects if needed.
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