Welsh charity, Local Aid, supports young people with learning difficulties and physical disabilities in the Swansea Bay area. It aims to raise awareness of the needs and aspirations of young people with special needs in the community, helping them to reach their full potential.
The charity provides specialist equipment, travel support, specialist services and activities for young people with severe learning disabilities, as well as practical and financial assistance to families experiencing hardship.
Local Aid services include sibling and parent support groups, volunteering projects, and ‘Buddies’ – an award-winning Saturday Club that supports children aged 8-18 with creative opportunities, skills development and respite for their families.
‘Buddies’ helped a young person called Tom with difficulties he was having on public transport.
Tom would only sit on the middle rear seat on a bus and would pull at strangers so he could take their place. With no other form of transport, this was extremely stressful for his family and difficult to manage. Local Aid helped Tom by drawing a bus seating plan and giving him a star when he sat on a new seat. Tom is now happily able to travel to other places with his mum.
Global’s Make Some Noise is proud to support Take That – a work experience programme designed to help young people with learning disabilities who are traditionally disadvantaged within the workplace.
It will include a training warehouse, a “live” retail shop and a classroom where young people will gain new skills and enhance their prospects of future employment. Local Aid hopes that this will create improved careers and job prospects for young people with special needs, alongside improved interpersonal skills and confidence.