A major boost for Hull children and young people with special educational needs has been delivered through the creation of a new hub.
Hull City Council has brought its SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) services under one roof after completing works to Lil Bilocca House in the city centre.
Work on the SEND Integrated Hub started on the ground floor in January, following on from the council’s Children with Disabilities team and Occupational Therapists move into the first floor last year. The authority’s Leisure and Family Support Service (LAFSS) has now joined them.
The move will allow the service to extend its capacity and improve facilities for leisure activities offered to children and young people with SEND, and it has been made possible through a partnership with the community. Donations towards the hub came from the Hull charity Life For A Kid Foundation, which provided sensory equipment, games consoles and other equipment, while Father Phil, the Vicar of Sculcoates, St Mary’s and St Paul’s churches in Hull, raised £10,000.
The LAFSS community also brought in funds through a Christmas community event hosted at the Eastmount Community Hub. Children and young people decorated the reception area and rooms with a sea theme, with help from specialist sensory environment advice from health colleagues and the council’s occupational therapists.
Meanwhile, parents and carers were consulted alongside professionals on what they wanted to see at the hub. The SEND Integrated Hub will now be developed further, with plans to integrate health and SEND services, and the next phase of works will include an indoor sensory garden and an active space.
Councillor Linda Tock, the portfolio holder for Children’s Services at Hull City Council, said: “The development of the new SEND Integrated Hub has been a result of the hard work and collaboration of our staff, partners, schools, local businesses and our wonderful community of parents, carers and more.
“This hub provides a great base for our SEND services, better meeting the needs of our teams and the children they support. It has enabled them to expand their current offer to families and also gives us the opportunity to bring our partners in to provide even more SEND services under the same roof.
“This builds on the council’s commitment to providing children in Hull access to services that provide them a good education and care, in spaces that are safe and equipped to meet their needs.”
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