Guest Article: SENDIAS Bathnes - BaNES Virtual Library

Supporting SEND Families in Bath & North East Somerset: The Work of SENDIAS Bathnes, By Jane Kemp, Volunteer Co-ordinator.

SENDIAS Bathnes offers free, impartial, and confidential information, advice, and support to children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as their parents and carers.

Our vision is to support and empower children and young people with SEND, and their parents or carers to feel confident in planning and making informed decisions about their own, or their child’s, education, employment and training in preparation for adult life.

Resources and Support

Our https://sendiasbathnes.org.uk website offers a wealth of resources, including factsheets, information series, videos, and signposting to further support. The team of Information and Advice Officers offer legally based support over the phone, online or face to face.

We have appointments available at Keynsham Library on Wednesday mornings and starting soon at Midsomer Norton Library, normally on the third Tuesday of each month. To book, please visit our website: https://sendiasbathnes.org.uk/events

You may have met us at events in libraries across BANES, where we connect with families at Baby Bounce and Rhyme sessions and our Storytime Groups, supporting families with younger children with SEND.

We also visit colleges, schools, nurseries and other community organisations, speaking to families, offering support and signposting.

Sendias signage on a sofa with blue teddy bears, books and a story sack

SEND Out! – Youth Participation at SENDIAS Bathnes

SEND Out! is our Youth Participation Group, dedicated to ensuring that the voices and experiences of children and young people with SEND are truly heard.

This friendly group plays a key role in ensuring that young people play an active role in shaping our services, sharing their perspectives and influencing decisions that affect their lives. To find out more visit https://sendiasbathnes.org.uk/events

Volunteering: Making a Difference

Our service is strengthened by the generosity and dedication of our volunteers, who help us reach and support families throughout Bath and North East Somerset. We are grateful for the contributions of our Parent Champions, Meeting Support Volunteers, Admin Volunteers and Independent Chair of our Advisory Group.

To every volunteer—thank you. Your contribution is invaluable.

Get Involved

Interested in joining our volunteer team? We are currently recruiting for a Volunteer Administrator to gather feedback from families who have used our service. Find out more about how you can get involved: https://sendiasbathnes.org.uk/volunteer-us