Our Children and Families service offers a complete support programme tailored to each family’s need. Our Family Support Officers deal with a wide range of issues and concerns - from education and health matters, to parents just wanting to know how to play with their child. We provide information on eye conditions, benefits, education and local services in an accessible, easy to understand way. We also visit families, run groups, arrange social events - we can even help with homework. There are also support groups especially for visually impaired parents, dealing specifically with the challenges of raising a child when you are visually impaired yourself. We also stress the importance of children learning through play. Our resource centres feature a multi-sensory and soft play room that provide a safe environment where visually impaired kids can play and build their confidence without getting hurt. This is especially important as a lot of the children we help have other physical or learning disabilities, as well as a visual impairment. Also, sensory play is a vital part of maximising any remaining sight that a child has, as eyesight continues to develop up to the age of seven. Our centres are also home to specialist toy libraries - we lend out a variety of light-based, tactile and noisy toys, which is a big help to families living on a tight budget. Henshaws also provides support to families during the school holidays. School holidays are a time when most kids get to enjoy trips out and have fun with their friends, but for visually impaired children they can mean loneliness and isolation. We run a holiday club with fun activities and trips out that give our kids a chance to get out and mix together. As you can imagine this also provides great relief to overworked parents – especially as we cater for sighted brothers and sisters as well. Henshaws is a lifeline to families with visually impaired children. The demand for the service is growing all the time, and we now have a waiting list for places. We’d love to be able to take on even more families, but we need to secure more funding. Your support would make a significant difference to the lives of a real family in need.