The team at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust Child Development Centre (CDC) have produced a great resource to help families accessing the CDC with their children.
The social story is designed to help you prepare your child/ young person for their first visit to the CDC, and has been developed by professionals and parents with families in mind.
Family Voice Peterborough are part of the Eastern Region Parent Carer Forum who regularly send out newsletter relating to topics such as SEND and Mental Health.
We are aiming to publish these newsletters when we receive them on parent carer support page of this website.
We have been nominated for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s Make a Difference Awards and have been shortlisted for the work we have been doing in the Together section
We will be attending the finals on Friday 30th September at 7pm in Peterborough Cathedral.
To those who nominated us, thank-you and even if we don’t win this is still an amazing opportunity for us.
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of the public and our amazing team
Surrey County Cricket Club have generously donated two tickets for day three of the England v. South Africa Test match at The Oval on September 10.
To win the tickets, entrants only need to donate £5 to Peterborough Unlimited which is fundraising for new Changing Places toilets in the city centre. A person then will be chosen at random to win the tickets.
A runner-up will also win a Wisden beer gift set and a bottle of Wisden rye whiskey which have been kindly donated by the popular cricketing title.
Donations can be made at: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SJSDHPJU72CJ4.
The competition will run throughout July with the winners then being emailed. The overall value of the prizes is around £300.
Changing Places toilets go beyond ordinary disabled toilets – they are bigger and include items such as a hoist and changing bench. Without them, many disabled adults and families with a young person who has additional needs feel unable to visit Peterborough city centre. This is leading to increased isolation and forcing families to travel to other cities to enjoy a day out and do their shopping.
Peterborough Unlimited is also looking to host future fundraising events including a larger raffle later in the year. Anyone able to offer a raffle prize is asked to get in touch by emailing: peterboroughunlimited@gmail.com
Enjoy a special day out with The Barrie Wells Trust if you have a a disabled, or seriously ill, child aged 8 – 18.
We are delighted to partner with the Barrie Wells Trust | Box4Kids initiative to enable families raising a disabled, or seriously ill, child, to enjoy a special day out and make unforgettable memories. We are encouraging families to nominate themselves to attend a Box4Kids event via the Barrie Wells Trust website.
The charity is completely funded by Barrie Wells MBE, but the initiative relies on organisations donating the use of executive boxes therefore events and places cannot be guaranteed. The Barrie Wells Trust always try to offer applicants who meet the criteria a Box4Kids event but cannot guarantee places or respond to enquiries who may not meet the criteria.
Box4Kids enables children and their families to enjoy watching a sports event or entertainment show from the comfort of an executive box at major sport and entertainment venues across the UK. Events range from Premier League Football, entertainment shows and a day out at the races to name a few.
To nominate a child then please visit the Barrie Wells Trust’s website and specify that you heard about Box4Kids through Family Fund when prompted:
Join Toni Bailey (Assistant Director SEND / Inclusion Peterborough and Cambridgeshire) who will be hosting two sessions for parent carers all about the SEND Strategy.
There will be:
The sessions will take place on teams, and there is no need to book. Simply go to our events page and click on the links in the calendar for the session you wish to attend.
Sessions will take place on
Families of young people with disabilities and additional needs have highlighted how a lack of suitable toilets is deterring them from visiting Peterborough city centre.
A survey carried out by Alpha Autism Care Ltd working with Family Voice Peterborough shows that nearly 95% of respondents avoid visiting the centre due to its lack of accessibility.
Thousands of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well other disabilities that severely limit mobility, cannot use standard disabled toilets as they do not provide changing benches or hoists, and most are too small to accommodate more than one person.
Instead, they require Changing Places toilets; without these, the person with disabilities is put at risk and families are forced to risk their own health and safety by changing their loved one on a toilet floor.
Among the comments received in the survey were multiple mentions of how people requiring Changing Places toilets had to try and use normal disabled toilets in M&S or McDonald’s which was deterring them from visiting the city centre.
The survey also revealed that 85% of the respondents stated that they are unaware of the location of the only Changing Places toilet in the city centre which is at the Car Haven Car Park behind the Town Hall, while nearly all of those who are aware of it are unhappy with where it is placed.
The respondents made clear that their preferred location for a Changing Places toilet is in Queensgate.
The results will give further momentum to the Peterborough Unlimited campaign which is fundraising for new Changing Places toilets in the city centre to make the area more accessible for people with disabilities.
More information on the campaign can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/PeterboroughUnlimited.
Donations towards the toilets can be made at: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SJSDHPJU72CJ4.
Family Voice Peterborough Parent Carer Rep team: “It is now accepted and expected that everyone has a right to live in the
community, to move around within it and access all its facilities. Government policy promotes the idea of ‘community participation’ and ‘active citizenship,’ but for some people with disabilities the lack of a fully accessible toilet is denying them this right.
“Providing these toilets in public places would make a dramatic difference to the lives of thousands of people who desperately need these facilities.”
People taking part in the survey have disabilities – or children with disabilities – including: autism, learning disabilities, Down’s syndrome, vision impairment, global development delay and microduplication.
We are delighted that our application to the Tesco Community Grants Scheme has been successful and our project will be put forward to a customer vote in Tesco stores. Voting will commence in store from the first week of July 2022 and continue until 30th September 2022.
The following information will appear on the voting unit when voting starts.
Family Voice Peterborough
Strength in Diversity
Peterborough
We will be helping diverse communities across the city to connect and find out what help is available for them to cope as we start to recover from the pandemic.
More information on our fundraising page
We have some great news to share, and we now need your support to make it happen. We have been nominated to be part of the Asda Foundation Green Token Giving online vote through our local Asda store in Peterborough. The vote is now live and voting will close at midnight on Friday 30th September 2022. The cause with the most online votes will receive a £500 donation with second place receiving £400 and third place £300. For further information read on the fundraising page
A campaign to improve disability access in Peterborough city centre is taking a leap forward with a large fundraising push for new fully accessible toilet facilities.
The Peterborough Unlimited campaign has begun raising money for a modular block of Changing Places toilets which would benefit all residents visiting Peterborough city centre, but in particular those with disabilities and parents with young children.
Campaigners will be outside the Town Hall in Bridge Street on Saturday, June 25 to highlight the lack of adequate toilets in the city centre and raise money for the new facilities which could cost up to £60,000, but would make a huge difference to thousands of people.
The fundraising drive has received the support of prominent politicians as well as local charities who have described the lack of Changing Places toilets as “shocking and heartbreaking”.
The Peterborough Unlimited campaign launched in 2021 to highlight how difficult it is for people with a wide range of disabilities to visit the city centre. And while some progress has been made, including the re-opening of St Peter’s Arcade to limit the distance between Bridge Street and the disabled parking spots at Car Haven, there remains a huge need to deliver new toilet facilities to make the area accessible for all.
Currently, the only Changing Places (fully accessible) toilets are based at Car Haven. Peterborough City Council has recently secured funding to upgrade the disabled toilets at St Peter’s Arcade, but this would still be a long distance for people with limited mobility or additional needs, or parents with young children, to get to if they are visiting Queensgate Shopping Centre or other places nearby.
Peterborough Unlimited is hoping people from all backgrounds will come together on Saturday, June 25 at midday outside the Town Hall to raise awareness of this important issue.
The aim is to keep fundraising until the money has been secured for the new toilets. If the total is not reached, or by any luck there are excess funds, the money will be used to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Peterborough by supporting local charities.
Joel Lamy, who helped launch Peterborough Unlimited, said: “There are thousands of people in Peterborough with disabilities, but many feel unable to visit their own city centre as there are a number of issues, the main one being a lack of suitable toilet facilities which is a huge barrier to going out.
“People with disabilities often don’t drive, so getting a bus into the city centre is one of their few options for getting out. So if we don’t make them feel welcome then all we are doing is condemning them to isolation and increasing feelings of loneliness.
“It can’t be right that families would rather travel to Milton Keynes than Peterborough for a day out. We should be creating a society which allows everyone to enjoy the same opportunities rather than isolating a large number of people.”
Louise Ravenscroft, chief operating officer at Family Voice Peterborough, a charity which helps to improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities or additional needs, said: “It is vital that the public gets behind this campaign and that we all work together to make Peterborough accessible for everyone.
“It is unfair when you care for a child/young person/adult who has to use continence aids and there is nowhere available to cater for their personal care needs.
“Changing someone if you can get them safely out of their wheelchair onto the floor in a standard accessible toilet or in the back of a car if the car is big enough is inhumane, undignified and unhygienic, but this is what some people are having to do.
“We need to encourage planners to make sure at the design stage of any new building and local infrastructure development that they accommodate Changing Places as well as accessible toilets.”
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Dr Nik Johnson said: “As a children’s doctor I am fully aware of how crucial Changing Places toilets are, and it cannot be right that families are staying away from Peterborough city centre because they worry about how they can go to the toilet.
“There is much more we can do with accessibility which fits in with my 3Cs: compassion, co-operation and community. I wish Peterborough Unlimited good luck with its fundraising and would encourage people to support this excellent cause.”
Actress and disability rights campaigner Julie Fernandez, who helped set up Peterborough Unlimited, said: ‘Disabled people and their families have a right to access and enjoy all that Peterborough has to offer in the same way as their non-disabled counterparts do.
“The law states that businesses should be accessible, but sadly many have not seen this investment as worthwhile! Having a Changing Places toilet available in the centre of town would allow more disabled people and their friends and family to spend their money in their own town rather than having to travel elsewhere.”
MP for North West Cambridgeshire Shailesh Vara said: “I am very pleased to support Peterborough Unlimited’s excellent campaign.
“It is absolutely crucial that those with disabilities and additional needs have proper access to toilet facilities in the city and can therefore feel comfortable visiting the city centre.
“I wish all at Peterborough Unlimited the best in their fundraising activities for this very worthy cause.”
Alison Kerry, head of communications at disability equality charity Scope, which has a shop in Peterborough, said: “Having a centrally located Changing Places facility will be such an important and welcome addition to Peterborough’s city centre. It will make the world of difference for disabled residents and visitors.
“Many disabled people have to make hard decisions about where they can visit based on accessibility. The harsh reality is, if there aren’t suitable, accessible toilet facilities nearby, they have no choice but to go elsewhere to shop, socialise and spend their money.
“Disabled people have a collective spending power of approximately £245 billion per year. Businesses and amenities in Peterborough can enjoy a slice of this Purple Pound if the city centre and its facilities are accessible.
“We hope this fantastic campaign will be supported by the community and businesses alike, so everyone can enjoy what Peterborough has to offer.”
Steve Conway, CEO at Deafblind UK, which has its head office in Peterborough, said: “It is shocking and heartbreaking to see that local residents don’t feel comfortable using Peterborough’s city centre because of its lack of accessibility.
“Everyone should have the opportunity to use public facilities regardless of any disability or health condition that they might have. This is an extremely worthwhile campaign and one that we fully support here at Deafblind UK.”
A spokesperson for St George’s Hydrotherapy Pool in Peterborough said: “On behalf of St George’s service users, we would wish to support an initiative that makes Peterborough a more welcoming, inclusive and accessible place for everyone to visit.”
Nazreen Bibi, CEO of Alpha Autism Care Ltd, said: “Changing Places toilet facilities in Peterborough city centre would not only benefit disabled people but would also encourage more footfall to the city centre and hence help local businesses to thrive.
“Appropriate disabled toilet facilities are in line with basic human rights and Equality Act legislation – it’s a shame that people must fundraise whilst disability rights legal frameworks are disregarded by the powers that be locally and nationally. On behalf of Alpha Autism Care Ltd, I would like to offer our support to Peterborough Unlimited in its campaign and fundraising efforts.”
Donations can be made at: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=SJSDHPJU72CJ4.
For more information on Peterborough Unlimited, visit: https://www.facebook.com/PeterboroughUnlimited or email peterboroughunlimited@gmail.com.