Foundation’s minibus and wheelchair donation to local schools will provide life-changing opportunities

Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will be able to enjoy school trips, with parents getting crucial respite, thanks to a donation of a minibus and wheelchairs from our Foundation.

Our Foundation has been delivering activities for children at the Vale School, on the doorstep of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and the Brook, also nearby, for many years.

The schools work together to deliver the very best provision for 107 complex wheelchair users and medically vulnerable students at the Vale, and 130 pupils with autism and challenging behaviour at the Brook.

Sukina Campos is deputy head teacher at the Brook and explained why the minibus will make such a difference.

“It means we can be more than just coming to school. Parents aren’t getting a break and a real rest, causing them to spend more money on social care. If we can take a group of really complex children away for a three-night residential trip because of the bus, it’s not just about money saved, it’s about the mental health of families.”

Sukina said the minibus would be used every single day, providing opportunities that would not otherwise be available.

“As we’ve grown, we’ve needed more sustainable travel, so the bus is going to allow whole groups to go out and explore the local community, and take in things they wouldn’t normally be able to, because we can’t take our children on public transport. We’ll access things like trampoline parks, skating and sailing lakes.

"The bus gives them a safe way of travelling. It also gives them some independence because whilst they’re on the bus we’ll be ensuring they’re learning skills like putting on their seat belts, sitting in the right position, waiting for the doors to open. All these things seem so small, but they’re so huge to our families because they’re skills the children can use with them, making them less scared to take them out.”

Sukina said the eight wheelchairs would also be in frequent use, whether during trips or, for example, for children to play wheelchair basketball at school.

“Young people at the Vale are mostly wheelchair bound, while children here at the Brook are more ambulant. However, if they’ve jumped for an hour on a trampoline, they won’t then have the energy to walk back to the bus.”

On being offered the donation, Sukina said: “We were just over the moon. Every single school is struggling with money and SEND schools are going through a rebanding, where we’re actually going to be in a worse position now than ever.

“Where we’ve had buses in the past, they don’t work anymore. It’s an impossible situation. We’re running bespoke transport rounds for our children – in holidays, in the mornings and at home times – who can’t access our normal escort system within Haringey for various reasons. We were lost because we were getting to a point where we didn’t have any more buses, so it was like someone answering our prayers. I only let one person drive it because I know they’re the best driver!”

Sukina said the cost of a similar calibre minibus, to meet all the children’s needs, would have been in the region of £35,000.

She continued: “During Easter, we’ve got three days of activities for 140 children happening here, costing around £21,000. The bus will be used in the summer to go completely off site for a three-night residential trip in Wales. That’s costing £10,000, with parents contributing. You can see what a massive dent a donation to the value of the minibus makes.”

Mary Ryan from the Foundation helped organise the donation.

She said: “The Foundation and in particular my colleague, John Abel, have worked closely with the Vale and the Brook for so many years now. Sukina’s described exactly why it’s so important children with SEND in Haringey are able to take trips, during and outside of normal school hours, so we were really delighted to make the arrangements for this donation, continuing our efforts to transform lives.”