We're trying to make things better so people don't have to go through what we have
Three Wirral mums are taking matters into their own hands to improve things for their children after problems with their local council. Wirral Council is currently seeking to comply with a government notice issued last year ordering it to improve its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services.
A new community group COSMOS, which stands for Community Of Send Mothers Obtaining Solutions, has now been set up to establish "a community voice" for families and children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
The mums behind the group, Cheryl Richardson, Lizzie Keown, and Jess Ryan, have all had different experiences of dealing with Wirral Council’s SEND services, some of them negative. However they decided to come together with five others to help the council bring about positive changes across the borough.
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COSMOS told the ECHO it was easy to feel hopeless at times and get stuck in a loop of negativity when being a parent of a child with complex SEND needs. However the group was looking at helping to get parents out of that and turn their experience into something positive.
Later this year, the group is hoping to start establishing hubs across the borough and working with current council services. These will aim to reach families across the Wirral with the aim to help point parents towards the right support and feedback to Wirral Council.
After years of failing to take action to address problems in the service, it seems like things could be starting to improve. The Department for Education recently told the council it was making significant progress with plans in place to further improve.
The local authority has made a significant investment in the service to improve services, doubling the size of the team dealing with requests for support from parents. Before this, the local authority said some staff were dealing with between 100 to even 200 cases at a time after demand nearly tripled following the pandemic.
COSMOS have been working closely with the council’s SEND services including children’s services director Elizabeth Hartley who are keen “to work with parents and look at what people want to see” with “that passion and drive to make things better.” Lizzie said: “We are starting to see those differences creep in, just slowly because it will take time.”
Lizzie, a former primary school teacher who has two sons Cameron and Ashton who were both diagnosed with autism, previously had to make a claim to a tribunal to get the support they needed. She said: “It was expensive and it was stressful. It was one of the most miserable times of my life and I thought it would never end. The tribunal process shouldn’t be something parents go through.”
She said the aim of COSMOS was to make sure less parents go through this process, adding: “I had family and a husband but I was in one of the loneliest periods of my life. It’s a lonely place as a parent.”
On the other side, her sons now get the “most amazing” support. She said having the group around "would have been amazing. It would have taken away some of the loneliness."
A key focus of the group is they “don’t want this to be a pity party anymore.” Cheryl’s daughter Hollie is currently going through the process to get an education, health and care plan (EHCP) which will outline what support she needs going forward.
While this is going on, she is still getting support through her current school and visiting the Hive Youth Zone. Cheryl said Holly now “feels a bit more confident in herself,” adding: “She loves it, she’s engaging in all kinds of activities and she is beginning to shine.”
Going forward, she said: “The goal is looking where people haven’t had the best experience but how can they turn that into something positive,” adding: “It’s taking off so much faster than I could have imagined.”
Jess said she never expected her son Chris who is now getting the right support "to be this outgoing or confident," adding: "He really hasn’t in the past stood up for himself.”
She said: “The right support can be life changing for children and it can be life changing for them in the future, for the whole family. I was so close to not being here anymore. It’s scary to think about it but I never saw I would be where I am now here with these people.”