Friends of Springfield House charity supports children attending Springfield House Special School and their families. The children we support are aged 5 -11 years old living in Birmingham, Solihull, Warwickshire & Coventry who experience significant social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Many of our children have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition (A.S.C), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) and have suffered from several Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). These children and families are often excluded from accessing current community provisions due to the child/parent’s mental health needs.
We operate using a multi-facetted approach addressing the physical, mental and emotional needs of families, not just the child. Through securing grants & donations we have been able to fund provision of holistic interventions delivered by qualified practitioners, such as brick and draw & talk therapies, as well as bereavement counselling.
For the past two years we have enabled the school to employ a family support worker who receives ongoing support (8 hours a week) from a Birmingham Pathfinder worker. Pathfinder have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of what services are out there and how to access them. This helps us provide outreach work across Birmingham linking with other organisations within the wider community or where groups of parents would more easily access a local to them meeting place.
These interventions are vital for promoting long term positive mental health outcomes for our children and families, therefore improving their life chances. We hope to continue to fund the family support worker and extend the therapeutic services by providing funding for a Forest School therapist, as well as much needed mentors for some of our most venerable pupils.