Stepping Stones District Specialist Centre
What is Stepping Stones? Why do we need funds?
Stepping Stones is an Opportunity Group for children who have special needs. Children come to us from birth and leave us when they move on to school. We cover the West Wiltshire Area – Trowbridge, Melksham, Westbury, Warminster, Bradford on Avon and all the surrounding villages.
All the children who come to the group have been referred to us by a Paediatrician, Health Visitor or other professional and have a wide range of different conditions such as Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, or Autism. Many children have a developmental delay, which means that they have had difficulties in learning skills such as walking and talking. Some children have very rare conditions, which mean they have very complex needs.
Children who come to Stepping Stones are assessed by our highly trained team and are helped and encouraged to learn through play. They are also given the opportunity to meet health professionals such as the Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Music Therapist. These therapists work with our team to develop a plan, which is specific to each Childs individual needs.
The Paediatricians also hold their clinics at Stepping Stones so families and children can be seen in familiar surroundings.
Stepping Stones is only partly funded by Wiltshire County Council. Each year we have to raise £40,000 in order to continue to provide our service to the children. We pay for extra therapy sessions for the children and also fully fund both the Music therapy and Hydrotherapy sessions.
We rely on the very generous support of the local community to help keep our group running.
