Wayfinder Calderdale CIC

During the reporting period, Wayfinder Calderdale CIC continued to develop accessible, community-based activities supporting parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Our work focused on reducing isolation, improving access to support, creating opportunities for social connection and wellbeing, and ensuring that the experiences of SEND families were heard. We also continued to develop our programme in response to what we learned from families and the barriers they experienced. Reach and engagement Across the reporting period, Wayfinder delivered 26 community sessions, generating 162 total attendances from 96 unique participants. The level of repeat participation demonstrates that Wayfinder was providing more than one-off activities. Participants returned to different sessions, allowing relationships and peer networks to develop over time with support from our volunteers. Peer support and partnership working Our coffee mornings became an important point of connection between families and the wider network of organisations supporting SEND children and their families across Calderdale. We regularly welcomed representatives from other support groups and local charities to our sessions. This created an informal and accessible environment in which families could meet organisations directly, ask questions and seek help without necessarily having to navigate formal referral routes or attend separate appointments. This approach improved access to support for our attendees and strengthened relationships between Wayfinder and other organisations working within the local SEND community. It also enabled visiting organisations to hear directly from families about their experiences and the challenges they were facing, helping to support more joined-up local provision. SEND-friendly outdoor activity During the reporting period, we identified a need for more opportunities for SEND children and families to access outdoor activity in a way that was genuinely inclusive and flexible. In response, we introduced Wayfinder Wanders as a new programme of SEND family walks. With support from volunteers at Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve, we were able to create welcoming opportunities for SEND families to get outdoors, be physically active and experience nature within a supportive community environment. Accessibility and engagement were central to the design of the walks. We recognised that SEND children can face barriers to participating in conventional walking or outdoor groups and therefore designed the activity to be flexible, accessible, welcoming and responsive to different needs. Working with Cromwell Bottom volunteers also helped strengthen community connections and allowed families to engage with a local nature space and the volunteers who care for it. Developing resources to support engagement Through delivering our activities, we recognised the value of having practical, engaging materials available to help SEND children participate in community and outdoor activities. Rather than simply identifying this as a challenge, we sought funding to address it. We successfully applied to the Alpkit Foundation for support towards Adventure Packs. The funding was secured towards the end of the reporting year, with the purchase and introduction of the Adventure Packs planned for 2026. The packs will provide practical resources designed to make outdoor activity more engaging and accessible for SEND children and help families participate confidently in our activities. This development demonstrates how Wayfinder uses experience from delivering its services to identify barriers to participation, seek appropriate resources and develop practical solutions that can improve engagement. Every Pair Tells a Story – community advocacy Wayfinder was involved in the local movement connected to the national Every Pair Tells a Story campaign, helping to organise activity locally to highlight the experiences of SEND children and families and the difficulties many face in relation to education and school attendance. Our involvement provided an opportunity to bring families together around shared experiences and highlight the wider challenges affecting SEND children and their families. The follow-up coffee morning provided a safe and accessible space for families to discuss their experiences and, importantly, enabled us to move beyond individual conversations and collate and organise specific issues raised by families. These issues were then able to be taken forward for discussion with local authorities. This gave families a stronger collective voice and helped Wayfinder contribute to constructive dialogue about the barriers experienced by SEND children and families, and possible routes to improvement. The activity demonstrated the role Wayfinder can play in connecting individual lived experiences with wider community advocacy, helping ensure that the experiences of local families inform conversations with decision-makers. Volunteer contribution Volunteers continued to play an important role in enabling Wayfinder to deliver accessible and welcoming community activities. Across the reporting period, 4 individual volunteers contributed 66.5 hours, supporting the delivery of our programme. Volunteers assisted with activities, helped create welcoming environments and contributed to the peer-support ethos that underpins Wayfinder's work. The involvement of volunteers at Cromwell Bottom was particularly valuable in helping us establish the new Wayfinder Wanders programme and connect SEND families with an existing local community and nature resource. Overall community benefit Wayfinder's work during the reporting period combined direct peer support, partnership working, accessible physical activity, community engagement and advocacy. We have continued to listen to families and use their experiences to shape our activities. This has enabled us to identify gaps and barriers, introduce new approaches such as SEND-friendly walks, secure funding for practical engagement resources, and create opportunities for families to collectively raise concerns with local decision-makers. Our activities have therefore provided immediate benefits through social connection and peer support while also contributing to a stronger, more connected and more responsive SEND community in Calderdale.