Support send kids charity
Founded by lawyers, entrepreneurs and activists
We believe every child has the right to be the best version of themselves. Yet without help, SEND children can fall behind, or out of education.
How we help
We use technology to provide free, accurate guidance to those interpreting (and advising on) SEND law and other laws that affect SEND families. This means we can help SEND families and SEND professionals in securing the right education for each SEND child, and navigate other laws that affect SEND families, especially when legal challenges are necessary.
WHY IS THIS NEEDED?
Because the current system is hard for all parties to navigate and often fails to secure the right outcome, leaving families to manage a legal process they have no experience of. Access to justice becomes an issue for those who cannot afford expensive legal representation.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We publish easy-to-digest guides and answer questions to explain how the law affects any given situation that SEND families face.
We enable families to self-serve and self-advocate in the law
We aim to equip our visitors with the information needed to achieve the right outcome for the child at the heart of the process.
WHAT FOR?
To creating lasting change. To supporting activists, lawyers, policy makers and local authorities with data to effect change.
To empower SEND families to help themselves through data and transparency.
latest press coverage
Fighting for your SEND child: the hidden costs: survey commissioned by Sky News
We were approached by Sky News to survey our Support SEND Kids community and discover if there was a hidden financial/time/career cost paid by parents of SEND children. The survey was aimed at uncovering the hidden costs that the lack of support from employers, schools, local authorities have on the working patterns of SEND parents. We were not surprised to find that evidence backed up our experience. 3 out of 4 parents in our survey have had to give up work or cut hours.
charity partners
Totum: 100k Ultra Challenge 2024
As one of our core fundraisers, Totum’s donations to the Support SEND Kids charity have helped us substantially over the last 3 years enabling us to guide ever more families through the SEND legal landscape, so more children can get the right education. Donate to their amazing 2024 JustGiving event here.
The Hall School: Triathlon Team
Huge thank you to the Hall School parents tri team who will be at the Blenheim Triathlon on 2 June 2024, swimming, cycling and running their hearts out to raise vital funds for us. If you are part of the team look out for the SEND Champions, they are taking part too, will join you at training and can talk about their lived experience with neurodiverse children in education. Just Giving: The Hall Tri Team 2024
current campaign: Government funded Child trust funds
Government funded CTF are lost to children without ‘mental capacity’
A topic weighing down many SEND families at the moment is the difficulty in accessing a child's Government-gifted Child Trust Fund, when the child doesn't have 'mental capacity'. This requires an application to the Court of Protection. We are partnering with Reed Smith lawyers who are offering to guide parents through the process - for free. It is not necessary to wait until a child is 18 to do this, so please put yourself forward if we can help you.
A Child Trust Fund is a long-term tax-free savings account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.
More details on the Government website
- Does your child have a Child Trust Fund (CTF)?
- Is the money stuck in it because your child does not have "mental capacity"?
- Do you want to be involved in this project?
If you answered yes, please sign up and learn more
Worth a listen: BBC Breakfast interviewed Victoria Butler-Cole KC on this subject and she references our work.
how to help
DONATE: Please support us on PayPal for individual or monthly donations or write to us and we will give you our bank details!
FUNDRAISE: Sponsor us. Donate. Invite us to speak at your diversity events.
CONTRIBUTE: Your knowledge to this platform: search and Answer questions. Share your skills, money, time
WATCH: Our video calling for pro bono support from lawyers, tech teams, marketing depts and other professionals.
VOLUNTEER: If you have time to give please do drop us an email at volunteer@supportsendkids.org
NEWSLETTER: Sign up to our newsletter pop up to keep informed.
OUR BACKERS: WCIT charity (Worshipful Company of Information Technologists), the Philip King Trust and the many many people who donate to us personally to support our work.
HOW and who WILL WE HELP?
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Search, ask and answer on this platform.
Collating and curating free, dynamic, accessible, searchable data that can be contributed to by families and professionals. Providing a webinar and video content space to hold informative events and other easily accessible video content.
Noddy No-nonsense Guide to SEN Law / Disability Law in Education No-nonsense Guide
No-nonsense Guides: search here on the platform, or download as pdfs.
Press coverage for No-nonsense Guides: Learning Disability Today, Education Business
“Sharing the ‘Noddy No-nonsense Guide to SEN law’ on the Support SEND kids platform, in its new Q&A format, has been very positive. Thanks, comments and requests have come in from the Dept of Education, Judges, LAs, SENCOs and parents. I am proud of the extended reach SEND kids has given to the Noddy Guide.”
David Wolfe, KC, Noddy Guide author.
Use the free roadmap of the EHCP process (beta)
Designing and digitalizing an improved EHCP process.
KEEP IN TOUCH
Volunteer with us
Get involved in socials
LinkedIn / Twitter / Instagram / Faceboook / YouTube @supportsendkids #I_supportSENDkids
Sign up to our newsletter
Newsletter sign up for all the latest from Support SEND Kids.
Contact Us
meet the Support send kids team
Founders
Janvi Patel (Co-founder / CEO)
Rachel Amos (Co-founder / COO)
watch the founders explain their motivation Founder video
watch Denise explain our mission onstage at Legal Geek 2021
Trustees
Janvi Patel (Co-founder / CEO)
Rachel Amos (Co-founder / COO)
Team
Catie Sheret (Content and Community Manager)
Tamsin Ogilvie (UX strategy & design)
Robert Russell (Infrastructure support)
FAQ
Support SEND Kids charity
- Set up during lockdown by Rachel, Janvi and Denise (who later stepped down as a trustee but remains involved), the charity is four years old
- Has five female trustees today (Rachel, Janvi, Emily, Caroline and Tamara) – all of them are either lawyers and/ or have run legal technology companies. All work full time and most have children with SEND and many of the trustees are also neurodiverse. All the trustees contribute their time for free.
- None of the trustees is an education or disability lawyer but we have many lawyers who contribute their knowledge in these areas FOR FREE
- The inspiration for the charity was the child of a friend and colleague who could not go to school during lockdown because the government changed the level at which local authorities had to provide support.
- The trustees felt that this was a breach of the law and against children’s human rights, so they set out to spread information about what SEND children are entitled to legally in order to access their education.
- This is needed because the legal landscape is confusing and full of mis-information. For time-poor parents of SEND kids this is a nightmare.
- Support SEND kids is focused on the technical areas of the law for SEN (special educational needs) and D (disability) that other charities do not cover (although there are many amazing SEND charities out there). We sometimes work with other charities to increase the impact of what we do and we collaborate whenever we can.
- Our most important collaborations are with the lawyers who provide FREE help.
- We use technology to try and scale what we do
- We partner with law firms as well
OUR PARTNERS
With huge thanks to all the people who, very generously, volunteer their time to help SEND families navigate the law.
Our financial funding currently comes from individuals supporting us through Go Fund Me, Crowd Justice and Just Giving and from grant making trusts.
Our legal community backing comes from a number of large law firms providing skills and expertise to us "pro-bono": Reed Smith, Sherman & Sterling.
Our charity pro-bono lawyers: Morgan Lewis
Our SEND lawyer support: David Wolfe QC, Leon Glenister, Talem Law, Shoosmiths, Boyes Turner
Our tech support is from our partners at SenateSense, Bryter Open and Kira Systems
Our PR support is pro-bono from Farrer Kane.
Our HR support is pro-bono from Shearman & Sterling
Our Accountants: All Square
If you want to support us pro-bono please email: volunteer@supportsendkids.org
In the press
Two in five parents of children with SEND forced to give up work
Learning Disability Today 13/09/24
BBC News, article 10/09/24
Sky News, article 07/09/24
Parents of children with special educational needs forced to give up work (2:45mins)
Sky News, recording 07/09/24
Most parents of SEND children forced to quit work or reduce hours
Education Business, 09/09/24
Education Business, issue 28.2, 15/03/23
New digital guide for SEND families on disability discrimination in education
Learning Disability Today, 16/11/22
New guide for families dealing with disability discrimination
Education Business, 14/11/22
SEND is an access to justice issue and the legal community is helping through pro bono support
The Legal Diary, 21/10/22
Welcoming SEND families to early years education
SEND network, 21/10/22
Empowering families to get the right educational support for children
Charities Management, 22/08/22
The Legal Diary, 19/08/22
Welcoming SEND families to early years settings
Early Years Educator, 12/07/22
Parents of older learners will be sceptical about the SEND review
Further Education magazine, 18/03/22
Support SEND Kids: Helping the next generation thrive
Totum Partners newsletter, 27/01/22
Finding a better way to Support SEND Kids
Legal Geek, 24/01/2022
Bryter, 17/12/21
A broken system: education, health, and care plans
The Law Gazette, 02/12/21
Our RUles
Be polite. Be yourself but protect your and other people's personal data. Don't make it personal.
Be useful, be helpful, be accurate and be kind.
If you want to complain, please email support@supportsendkids.org
If you want to applaud, please share our links (above) with your community and please contribute.
Thank you.
Read our Safeguarding Policy
Support SEND Kids Ltd. Charity number: 1195895