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The SAND Project Service Spotlight
Welcome to the first Local Offer Service Spotlight! I recently took a visit to The SAND Project’s Café in Worthing to speak to Kate about the work they do for young people with SEND. It was clear to see that the staff and young people enjoy their time working to develop their skills, and the food they produce there is delicious! Below is a summarised version of the conversation Kate and I had.
What do you/ your service do for people with a special educational need and/ or disability?
Bespoke work training opportunities for people with moderate learning difficulties. Currently we work with 18 to 25 year olds and from September we are expanding this and creating a sixth form (16 to 25 year olds).
How long have you been running?
We opened in September 2019
How does your service help people?
We identify someone’s skills and interests and then we create a pathway around that. So, we can do that in our café, which provides a lot of work experience. We also have the media centre for creative arts, such as writing, photography or filming. We then make sure to evolve their skills around an enterprise and find a way to market this in an attractive and appealing way.
Yourself, Marita and Laura do lots of great work to help people here. Is their anyone else that is involved?
Yeah, we have a network of mentors which are professionals in a range of fields. For instance, Kelvin in the kitchen loves carpentry, so we have bought carpenters in to work with him. We also have a workforce facilitator, Becki. Becki’s role is to focus on work skills and bridging the gap between our business and industry. To do this we have 43 SAND mentors who work with our guys to give them an insight into the world of work and support them in different ways.
There has been lots of things that have helped you get to where you are today. What would you say has been one of the most useful things to help in the process?
Lots of hard work! Also being partnered by West Sussex County Council means we have been able to open the doors to lots of other people. It is also really nice to be working with them to help make sure they send appropriate people to us to help.
What is the most important thing you have learnt from working in the SEND community?
I think the most important thing I have learned is not what I can teach young people, but what they can teach me and I think as facilitators we are responding to young people rather than dictating to young people, then we can take them a lot further.
What is the best way for people to find out more about what you do?
Check out the website, go on our social media and come and see us. We are on Instagram and facebook.
Do you enjoy coming here Jodie (a young person training at the Café)?
“I enjoy cooking and baking. There are lots of nice people to work with too.”
If you would like to be a future Local Offer Service Spotlight then please invite me to come along to see and talk to you about what your service/organisation provides.
Email: localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk
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Dear Service Providers,
Are you planning on hosting family fun days, holiday camps or any other type of event that is suitable for the SEND community over the summer holidays? If the answer is yes, then help share the news by uploading the event on to the Local Offer! Events that are uploaded to the site are included in this newsletter and are also shared through social media.
Let's all have a great summer together!
If you need any assistance with using the Local Offer please contact your Local Offer Officer.
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