Grantham Disabled Children’s Society finds new home in Elmer House

A disabled children’s society has finally found a permanent home.

The Grantham Disabled Children’s Society will be based in room 14 at Elmer House in Finkin Street from tomorrow (Friday, March 14).

This will be the first permanent premises that the society - which is a parent-led group that helps families who have children with disabilities - has had.

Trustee Darryl Blair said: “It’s nice that now we have a set premises where people can come and learn more about the group.

“Hopefully we will also be able to signpost families to the right services and help them with ECHP’s [Educational Health Care Plan].

“It also gives us the chance to be more centralised, establish ourselves and offer help to SEN families in Grantham.”

When the group held its autumn ball last September, Darryl made contact with local businesses to sponsor tables for the event.

One of these businesses was Grantham Estates. After the event, David Hindmarch from Grantham Estates invited GDCS to have a chat.

The volunteers told David how they were looking for a permanent premises and a room at Elmer House was offered to them.

Suze Shelton, trustee and who came up with the idea of finding a new home, said: “We found that we had more people coming to us and never really knowing where to go.

“So, we thought it could help people to actually meet us face-to-face rather than online.

“It’s a positive step forward for the STEM system. It will be nice for families to have somewhere to go.

“I also think it’s good to show them they are not alone and they can go speak to people in similar situations.

“Being an SEN parent can be a lonely place.”

As well as signposting families to services, they will also be offering mental health support.

Darryl added: “We also want to focus on mental health for the parents and carers.

“We have done a couple of sessions with parents already as it can be hard to get them to talk sometimes.”

The space will be open three days a week on Mondays from 11.30am until 2.30pm, Wednesdays from 9.30am until 12.30pm and Fridays from 10am until 1pm.

If people cannot make a weekday session, they can contact GDCS to arrange a weekend appointment.

To find out more about GDCS and its new space, email gdcs2013@hotmail.com.