New Hope North East is driven by the voices of BME and disadvantaged, disabled children/young people and their families who are under-represented in service delivery and planning, lack engagement and participation resulting in low levels of access to support and services, are facing many prejudices and stereotypes, feel that the services support on offer are inaccessible and do not address their cultural and religious beliefs. NHNE believes that supporting BME parents and carers will increase their active participation and involvement, challenge inappropriate services, increase awareness of inclusion and equality to bring about positive outcomes of a stronger, diverse and equal society which serves disabled children/young people and their families with dignity regardless of their background. Our goal is to eventually "Build Bridges" by bringing together disabled children and families from BME and mainstream communities to work together in supporting each other in unity for a stronger society.
WhatNew Hope North Eastoffers:Children'sActivitySessions,Information, Advice and Guidance,Signpost to other service providers, Family Trips, and speak on behalf of families. We now offer after school club once per week.We welcome your suggestions on what else you think we should offer.
Activity Sessions for Children and Young People
We have held a range of activity sessions for children and young people with qualified sessional Playworkers. These have included: Arts and Crafts, Messy Play, and Relaxation. All our trainers and volunteers are DBS checked. Our inclusive weekly summer holiday club "Fun Friends Together" has also proved very popular. Thanks to Amy, our activities leader, and to all our Playworkers, volunteers, and parents for the hard work and success at the end of the holiday activities event.
Parents Support Group: We offer Information, Advice and Guidance, and "Learning Together" Sessions.
Our support sessions have provided participants with information, advice and guidance on issues relevant to the care, education, health, and social life of their disabled child or young person and themselves. These have included: Understanding Diagnosis, Caring with Confidence, Accessing Information, First Aid, Safeguarding Children and Young People, and Inclusive Play.
Family Trips
Our family trips have enabled families to feel less isolated, develop friendships with people who face similar challenges, and visit places they have never been to. Trips have included: Centre for Life, Seven Stories and Ouseburn Farm, Light Water Valley, Adventure Valley, Blue Reef Aquarium, and Beamish Museum.
All our activities are free to low income families, but we welcome donations.
Engagement with the Wider Community
We are truly grateful to the "Awards4All" grant, which is helping us in changing the lives of disabled children/young people and their families positively. Through their support, our end of holiday children's activities ended with a big bang bringing together children and families, friends, and the wider community together. We also want to thank our special guest Dr. Shobhan and the Bollyhood dancers. You made the event "Fun Friends Together" more special. Thank you so much for all the families who donated food from different cultures. Many thanks to our organizing team Amy, Playworkers, and volunteers. Not forgetting to thank our Management Committee for exceptional leadership. Looking forward to more fun together in the near future.
What Our Families Say:
New Hope North East works to help our families feel less isolated, less marginalised, and to increase their self-esteem and self-worth, resulting in improved emotional well-being and mental health. This is what our participants say:
'It was awesome. Everything!!! The place, having fun, just being with friends and family." ... "Brilliant!".... "Very nice, I enjoyed riding on a tractor."
"Excellent, I liked meeting new people and spending time together." ..."I feel less isolated' ...'great to enjoy the outside world together'... 'I'm gaining the knowledge that I need to look after my child'...'enjoying sharing stories and forming friendships.'
We are grateful to our funders, the Big Lottery, "Awards for All" and we are managing to organise bigger and better activities to support families.
We are also privileged and thankful to our new funder, The Cultural Spring for the Art grant for children and young people's project, "The Art Jungle," starting soon at West Boldong Community Centre.
We are so grateful to The Barbour Foundation for funding our After School Club, which began on the 4th of November and every Friday 4-7 p.m.
Family Trips
Our family trips have proved a great way to make friends and build confidence, and so far, we have visited the following places:
Centre for Life
Seven Stories and Osburn Farm
The Dunes
Beamish Museum
Blue Reef Aquarium
Light Water Valley
Adventure Valley
We have planned the following trips:
Alnwick Gardens
Discovery Museum
Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens
Boldon Cinema.
Volunteer With Us
Everyone at our organisation is a valued and appreciated volunteer. All our volunteers are supported with transport money. If you're interested in becoming part of the volunteers' team, we can arrange a suitable date and time for you to visit us and discuss further. Ideally, we are looking for students or those who have previous experience working with children with special needs.
Appreciating Donations
Would you kindly support New Hope North East by kindly donating to us where possible? All of the money that we receive is put toward providing more fun and educational activity sessions for disabled children, young people, and their families.
Diana Award Winner
Congratulations to our exceptionally hardworking youth fundraiser Jennifer Igbafen for receiving the Diana Award. Weldone Jennifer, you made your family and us all New Hope North East family proud. Keep up the excellent work of changing the world of children by campaigning, volunteering, and fundraising for a better world as an ambassador of Princess #DianasLegacy
