Comments from Trafford parents and carers in 2018.                                         What benefits did your youngster obtain by attending our scheme?                        A break from his usual daily routine accessing activities he would not be able otherwise.              The scheme is BRILLIANT. The children get to access different places. Everyday there was something new for the kids to do & enjoy. Gives the kids opportunity that they possibly would not have otherwise.                 He loves attending the scheme and gets really excited when he realises that’s where he’s going. He’s had the chance to experience lots of different activities with people who really seem to understand him.                               Enjoyable days out to interesting locations. New experiences, interacting with others, supporting independence                              J liked going on them it was good for him we had that time when goes on them. We don’t have a lot of that.                 A chance to socialise with others and a chance to experience new things.                        J really enjoys the company and interacting with other children. It gives him a bit of independence and time away from home in a safe environment.                   Good day out for social skills and parents feel safe he is in safe hands, I.e. staff understand his needs.                         Enjoyed the days out and kept her in routine.                          Socialising, meeting new people and going to new and different places.                 Made friends familiar faces C knows everyone. He goes places he won’t go with us.                          H struggles to access activities in the general community. Leisure for Autism organises specific autism friendly activities which meant that he can have enjoyable days out in the summer holidays, something family struggle to offer.                       Felt safe. New friends lovely staff he liked, enjoyed the activities and had lots of fun.                               T was so happy to get on the bus, full of smiles and happy flapping hands. Was even trying to shoes on before or was time to leave. Arrived home in a great mood, settled better for rest of the evening. Wonderful to see how happy his days out make him.                                A good variety of activities helped to keep a bit of a routine in the holidays gave mum some time to catch up too.                     He is having fun and enjoying .                          L is a challenging young person who loves being out and about. Going out with the scheme is his favourite thing. Even now he will wake and ask for playscheme.                      P benefitted enormously from getting out of the house – if it wasn’t for LFA he would be confined to the house all holiday.                        Had a brilliant time with understanding people who care for him fantastically.                  A diverse set of days out.                                        Interaction with a large group.                Lots of time outdoors.                 Supervision by staff qualified and willing to deal with his behavioural issues .           Independence, society interaction with his peers, B loves going to L4A, he loves being a big boy and being away from mum for a bit having fun with the caregivers and friends he has made over the years he has been coming, over ten years that is.                                                                                                                                What benefits did the rest of your family enjoy?                    Chance to do “normal daily chores” etc in peace knowing M was being well cared for and also enjoying himself with well structured activities.            Knowing that our son could access different things & have another focus with like-minded peers is invaluable for us as a family & we don’t have to worry, we could drop him off & go to work knowing that he would be well looked after.                I got to spend some time alone with my daughter and this benefitted us both greatly.                       Opportunity to spend time with our daughter, some respite.                  To be able to go shopping and go and have coffee and not worry about him being unsettled and wanting to go.                       It is something to look forward to and not feel guilty thank you.                             Valuable school holiday respite allowing us time to relax as a family and recharge whilst knowing that S is having a great time with people who care about his needs.                   Invaluable time out from having to constantly occupy J 24/7 as he is unable to self-occupy. This lessens the stress of the summer holidays                   Break. Relief.                              Respite was lovely and routine was so important for P.                        Chance to do jobs C doesn’t like doing.                                 Leisure for Autism is a lifeline for families. The summer holidays are an extremely challenging time and It is invaluable to families to have the extra support this service provides.                         Knowing he was safe and enjoying himself and a bit of respite                          This gave us absolutely invaluable time with T’s sister. We were able to do “typical” holiday activities which are impossible to do with her brother. We planned some lovely things. Even a chance for her to friends to the house.as even this is not possible with T home due to his unpredictable and challenging behaviours.                           Gave us chance to do day to day tasks and gave us a break.                     We have a bit more free time for ourselves where we can go somewhere that it is not suitable for E to go.                     Attending the scheme relieved a lot of pressure for the whole family. Due to a broken arm I can’t drive and this means P would be housebound.                              This summer I was unable to drive and as a consequence L would not be able to go anywhere. However, attending the scheme took the pressure off the whole family. If L is happy we are all happy.                          Massive help during the long summer holidays. Couldn’t manage without it!                         Respite during school holidays.                         Able to continue working.                         The whole scheme is an absolute lifeline for us as a family.                             Give us time to do things we don’t normally do, or things which are normally B focused therefore when we do things when B is at L4A it’s great for his sister to have my full attention, which she doesn’t always have due to B’s needs.                                                 Any other comments on improvements we could make:                                2 weeks per playscheme is never enough. Once we have got our child in there we don’t want it to end. So longer if that’s possible but I suppose it’s not.                                        Generally very well organised. I would have personally liked more flexibility over dates as my son attends school out of area and has different holidays, but I understand this may pose problems. It would be good to spend more time at places, perhaps get fuel before children arrive or have slightly longer days if travelling further afield?                               More of the same please! As this scheme is fantastic for his development.                                      Maybe could visit two places close to each other during the day out. So kids get more ‘legging’ time.                                    H was offered 5 days out of 10. This was made up of 4 in the first week and only 1 in the second. It would have been great to have had 6/7 days and a better spacing across the 2 weeks.                                 More dates in the holidays, there’s not a lot of 1-1 places only mainstream which he is unable to attend.                           The only thing I would say is more places. We used to get the full 10 days for C, which was fantastic but due to demand not as many allocated days this time.                                    Win the lottery, get unlimited funding to get more buses and careers that would enable more children to benefit, but I do live in the real world, I’m just dreaming xx                                   You do an AMAZING JOB, with the activities that are put into place for our kids to access. I am not sure if you know how invaluable the playscheme is for us parents who have children with additional needs. You are a god send.                                  Thank you very much for all you did for B, it’s most appreciated.                                        I would like a family day out/ picnic at the end of the scheme to allow more opportunities to meet children, carers and other families. A Christmas party may be another option. Thanks SO much for all your hard work. S loves the outings and is always very eager to attend. We really appreciate the effort that goes into making this a success.                 Fantastic scheme! This has been invaluable for J, enabling him to visit lots of different places, having the peace of mind that he is completely safe with a great set of people who have worked extremely hard to give him and others a great summer. Keep up the good work!                                          We are grateful it’s been organized and run every summer. Thank you.                          Thank you. There is not much available for C club wise and the team is the friendliest and understands all the children. Not many do sadly                  The scheme is well run. H is an extremely complex individual with significant challenges. He requires 2:1 support in most settings, yet he was able to access and thrive in the scheme. This is a credit to the staff who run the placement.                                    Great opportunity for A.                                     Really organised. Staff amazing as always.                                          Hand on heart the best scheme ever, to know the youngsters are on such great days out with amazing staff, days out they clearly love. Fantastic! Staff are all so upbeat, caring and never fazed! Huge thanks from us all.                                          Feel that extra funding from Trafford for you would be beneficial to give more children a chance to benefit fully from this excellent service Also personally think that the Saturday Club would be good more regularly as for a lot of parents it is the only available respite they get.                                     As always the staff go above and beyond – they have a wonderful relationship with P working hard to meet his complex needs.                     The wonderful staff work hard to meet his complex needs. L loves attending the scheme.                 Everything is first class!                                      The staff all deserve medals! LFA has become an integral part of his life.                                       I think you are all wonderful and I really don’t know what me and B and the rest of the family would do without you, he loves coming to L4A on both the summer dates and the monthly dates, so thanks you all very much. xxx