Dorset Children’s Foundation partners with Slater and Gordon

Dorset Children’s Foundation supports families in a host of ways - from parent groups, advocacy and advice, through to enabling them to access therapies and disability equipment - and works with hundreds of children each year.

To support its work, Slater and Gordon will fund the roles of two part-time support workers in its Little Stars early years and outreach service, which holds sessions in Bournemouth and Poole. Both support workers are parents of disabled children, so understand the complexities and challenges children and their families face first-hand.

The law firm will also deliver legal education sessions for the team at Dorset Children’s Foundation, and will offer legal clinics to families to allow them to better understand their legal rights.

Dorset Children’s Foundation, founded in 2013, has three charity shops in Bournemouth including its flagship Tree House children’s shop. The charity has recently launched its own premises to stage events and activities for families, called The Windmill in the Sovereign Centre, Boscombe, and also operates outreach services in the county. Children can attend even without a formal diagnosis of their condition, and parents regularly speak of the fact the charity is a “lifeline” for them.

Demand continues to grow for its specialist support, with the absence of other similar services in the area meaning the charity faces on going pressure to grow. With its Little Stars service, a second group has now been created to enable as many children and parents to attend as possible.

“We are an independent charity which is small enough to care but big enough to make a difference, and we are seeing a real increase in the numbers of families who need our support. We are doing absolutely all we can to ensure we raise the funds to meet this demand, as we rely heavily on fundraising and receive no funding from the government,” says Patsy Hallmey, co-founder and head of operations at Dorset Children’s Foundation.

“The fact we have funding for our Little Stars support workers is absolutely amazing news and we are so grateful to Slater and Gordon. We know from our families how much of a lifeline our service is to them and how they depend on us, so it’s wonderful to have support from our partners in being able to deliver this.”

Tim Blackwell, principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon, adds: “Dorset Children’s Foundation plays an invaluable role for families of children who live with disabilities, and deliver a wide array of assistance and interventions – often at times where they do not know where else to turn. We are very pleased to be able to support their work through our new partnership.”