Peter Pan Centre

The Peter Pan Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme wrote to update us recently on their activities and we were pleased to hear that our grant towards operating costs has been really beneficial in supporting the work they do with pre-school children who have special needs and disabilities at a time when, as they say, “they have never been more needed”.

With waiting times to access an autism specialist having risen significantly and the toll of the pandemic, staff at Peter Pan have found themselves increasingly in demand to support the many families who are turning to them for help with pre-diagnosis support, strategies to get on track and with mediation meetings with schools and local authorities. Despite the challenges they are facing, they have been able to recruit a new Family Support Worker and extend their charitable offerings to include weekly ‘Stay and Play’ sessions for 0-5 year olds at two local children’s centres. They have also introduced a new way of communicating with parent carers via a nursery management tool which has greatly improved two-way communication. All good news!