Returning to school after the summer holidays can induce feelings of uncertainty or anxiety. We have shared 20 tips to encourage children and young people to feel more confident returning to school and help them feel safe to talk about how they are feeling.

1. Start to talk about school, providing a space to talk about any of the things that might be changing.
2. Normalise and validate what they are feeling. There is no right or wrong way to feel about the change and transition, and reminding them that they have the right to feel the way they do can encourage them to continue expressing their feelings in the future. 
3. Discuss the uncertainty. If they are entering a new setting or format from last term, there may be uncertainty around what to expect which can lead to feelings of anxiety. Simply just discussing what these uncertainties are can help to ease the overwhelming feeling of the unknown.
4. Increase feelings of security by preparing them for the return to school as much as possible. This might involve looking at the school website, talking to the school, walking past the school (if possible).
5. Provide any information about new things ahead of time. Photos of new teachers or classrooms can be very helpful.
6. Provide as much information as possible about what their new routine might look like if it has changed from last term. Create social stories or visual planner.
7. Connect with others. Encourage them to get in touch with school friends to reconnect ahead of school.
8. Explore the things they can control and encourage them to feel that they have ownership over these.
9. Get organised. We love lists to help with this. Ticking things off can help feel things are ‘under control’.
10. Reintroduce routine early. Beginning to get back into the routine of a school day ahead of the start of term can help lessen the stark contrast that may occur for school mornings.
11. Sleep. Ease back into a school-based sleep schedule ahead of the first day.
12. Maintain an optimistic tone and positive attitude. Take them shopping with you. Get excited about the new school year. If your child sees you are excited, they will be excited.
13. Practice reframing negative thoughts. Read books or watch educational cartoons about things your child may be concerned about.
14. Practice expectations. Set up school zones and expectations. Make sure you have a place that is quiet to do their homework and keep their backpack in one place.
15. Be calm. Try to stay calm whilst your child is feeling distressed. Model stress management such as mindful breathing, grounding techniques, worry aids and exercise.
16. Have fun. Provide lots of light relief; play games, laugh together, make things, be outside.
17. Work together. Share ideas about how to create action plans, have a problem-solving approach, enjoy achievements.
18. Incorporate positive reinforcement. Tell them when they are doing well.
19. Keep communicating. The small things you do make all the difference: Keep talking, texting, listening, hearing, hugging, sympathising, smiling, reassuring, checking
20. Compassion. Look after yourself the school holidays can be a stressful time for parents and carers trying to juggle multiple responsibilities. Take time for yourself to reflect on changes that may be happening in the next few weeks and connect with other parents and carers for peer support. 

As part of Me2 Club’s 20^th Anniversary campaign, we are sharing monthly ideas of 20 things to do, learn or inspire. This month, the team at Me2 Club have looked at things you can do to help a child or young person feel included. We have incorporated suggestions that young people have made.

Every child and young person is unique and won’t need all these things. In addition, there maybe things that would  help a young person to be included that we haven’t listed here. Always ask how you can make someone feel more comfortable and pay attention to verbal and nonverbal feedback.

1	Allow fidget and sensory aids to enable a young person to concentrate and regulate their sensory needs.
2	Arrange a venue which is quiet and absorbs sounds. This helps autistic young people and those who having a hearing impairment.
3	Allow young people time to process information and formulate their response. Be patient!
4	Some young people are particularly sensitive to smells. Avoid strong air fresheners and perfumes.
5	Allow young people to bring a supporter if they wish.
6	Let young people choose how they communicate with you. Some people are more confident texting rather than phoning, for example.
7	Unstructured time can be difficult for young people. Offer practical things to do such as sensory aids, books etc.
8	Allow young people to be themselves. Some find eye contact or small talk really difficult. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be friendly. Allow them to choose when to interact.
9	Flickering strip lights can be distracting and cause headaches. Try to use natural light or good quality artificial light. Remember some of your young people may need to lip read.
10	Where possible, choose a venue that is wheel and power chair accessible, including the toilets.
11	Be clear what is happening when. Visual aids and routine can really help with this.
12	Provide a quiet area where young people can take a movement break or a sensory break. This helps them regulate their sensory needs and helps them to concentrate.
13	Young people with additional needs have often been bullied. Be sensitive to this and tackle and bullying straight away. You can also learn more about being trauma informed.
14	Formal interviews don’t always allow you to see what a young person is capable of.  Allow young people to show you what they can do such as allowing them to bring in work they have done or even a video of them doing similar work
15	Try to ensure a venue is near Blue Badge parking.
16	Ensure information is easy to read and available in larger type. Caption videos.
17	Enrol on a BSL or Makaton course!
18	When serving food, offer a range of refreshments including simple, plain food.
19	Offer choice wherever possible and allow young people to have a say in what they take part in.
20	Ask young people what they need. If they can’t communicate, ask their parent carers and notice their reactions.

We are pleased to share our annual Impact Report. We are really proud of the amazing ways that Me2 Club has been able to make a difference to the lives of many children, young people and families who accessed our services over the last financial year.

Me2 Club have updated our Power of Youth Charter as part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that young people with additional needs and disabilities have a voice.

Me2 Club’s Power of Youth Pledge 

P – Prioritise supporting young people to take social action.

We will create opportunities that empower more young people, particularly from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds, to be positive changemakers.

Background: Me2 Club is a charity supporting disabled children and young people aged 5 – 20 to participate in mainstream activities, a Youth Social Action group for ages 8 – 25 and a group for teenagers to meet together in Reading and Wokingham. We also run the Wokingham SEND Youth Forum for 8 – 25 year olds.

Me2 Club has created the following opportunities to empower our young people to make positive changes:

• Ensure children using our Core Service have a say in their Personal Profile, mainstream activity and choice of volunteer.
• Hold an annual young person’s Takeover Day to including young people taking over our social media to campaign and giving their views to the CEO and Trustees on the running of our charity.
• Run a SEND Youth Forum at least 6 times pa so that young people can coproduce at least 3 local service developments – the Local Offer, Autism Strategy and Preparing for Adulthood.
• Held a survey to determine what specific changes young people wanted us to help them make from our SEND youth forum, teen group and Youth Social Action Groups.
• Started a Youth Social Action Group with the aim, chosen by young people, to improve awareness of additional needs. This will include taking part in Parallel Windsor, producing a video and lots more.
• Hold a  monthly Teen Club where young people choose activities and plan and fundraise for these activities.

Reading has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK and Wokingham has an increasing Asian population. Me2 Club record how we far we are reaching the diverse populations in Reading and Wokingham and how far young people from the various populations in our area contribute. Me2 Club are successful in getting ethnically diverse young people to take part, through our inclusive approach. 27% of our children and young people are from global majority groups.

Wokingham is seen as an affluent area but there are areas of hidden need including five economically disadvantaged wards in both Reading and Wokingham. We are proud to have been able to keep our service free for parents and in cases of financial hardship we have a policy to help with the costs of the activity, uniform and transportation so that children have a chance to attend their chosen activity.

O- Open up our decision-making structures.

We will offer opportunities for young people, particularly from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds, to participate in decision-making, leading and shaping both the activities they are involved in and wider organisational decisions.

1. Me2 Club’s 3-year strategy 2021 to 2024 has a clear objective for our young people to actively influence decisions in the charity and co-produce the support that they receive.
2. We have a co-production policy setting out how Me2 Club can empower young people to make positive changes to the charity.
3. Young people are invited to tell us their ideas about what they would like Me2 Club to do, and we will coproduce all service developments with them. This includes having a say in their choice of activity and volunteer in the core service, regular surveys and a coproduced teen club and Youth Social Action Group as well as Takeover Days.
4. All new staff will have participation as part of their induction, and we have developed a co-production tool to assist staff.
5. Me2 Club pledge that we will invite young people to attend interviews for all new staff.

W – Work collaboratively with other organisations.

We will work collaboratively with other organisations to create more high-quality opportunities, reach young people from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds to take part, share learning and achieve shared goals.

Me2 Club attends the VCSF Forum, which includes Wokingham organisations that work with young people with additional needs. The Participation Officer chairs the equivalent in Reading. This means that Me2 Club can hear a variety of young people’s voices and enable high quality opportunities for young people to take action.

Me2 Club are leading on the development of disabled young people’s voice in Wokingham. We are working with others on the development of the SEND Local Offer, Preparing for Adulthood information and processes and are on the SEND Information, Advice and Support group.

E – Evidence the benefits of youth social action.

We will capture and share insights, stories and data on how we are working with young people, and the positive impact this has on them, their communities and our organisations.

Me2 Club produce monthly reports for the Trustee Board which includes ways we have enabled young people to take action and the impact of this in terms of our service. Our annual impact report includes how well we have ensured representation from global majority groups.

We asked young people how they want to get involved and what difference they want us to help them make in our participation activities – our SEND Youth Forum, teen group and youth social action groups. We are measuring this through a mixing deck monitoring tool and through minimum targets set for the year in opportunities that our young people will be offered to influence change. (Please see section P above).

R – Recognise and celebrate young people’s impact.

We will use our communication channels to advocate for and celebrate young people as positive and powerful changemakers.

Me2 Club already use our role within Reading and Wokingham to advocate for disabled young people, supporting local organisations to make their clubs accessible to all young people such as Scouts and swimming lessons providers.

Young people take over our office and social media annually, with young people in the driving seat for how each one will be conducted.

Me2 Club has an active presence on Facebook and Twitter, and we pledge to use this to celebrate how our young people have been positive and powerful change makers within Me2 Club.

We celebrated our 20^th Anniversary in 2023! We are really proud to have been supporting children and young people with additional needs in Wokingham and more recently Reading for 20 years. Since 2003, Me2 Club volunteers have enabled children and young people with additional needs and disabilities (aged 5-19 years) to attend a weekly mainstream activity of their choice. The volunteers are often young people themselves, and are there to give the children/young people the encouragement and support they need to get involved, gain confidence, make friends and most importantly have fun!

Chin Davies, Me2 Club’s CEO said: “I am so excited to have joined Me2 Club during it’s 20^th Year. The longevity and growth of the charity is a testament to the impact it has made in the local community and direct beneficiaries. We have planned some lovely celebratory events over the next year and look forward to seeing our families and supporters at these events.

Jo Ramsay, Me2 Club’s Senior Fundraising and Development Co-ordinator ‘we have so many exciting plans this year and hope many of you in the community will join us in our fundraising & celebrations’.

In celebration we are launching our 20^th Anniversary appeal. We would love to hear from families who have been directly supported by us over the past 20 years or any past volunteers, trustees or staff would like to get involved in our celebrations.

As well as working with wonderful grant funders, both national and local, over the next year we are looking to diversify our funding streams and we would love to hear from you if you could support us by:

• Taking on a sponsored challenge. Current ideas involve running, swimming and sky diving but we are always happy to hear other suggestions.
• Run a fundraising event for us – please let us know your ideas and we can provide banners, buckets and other support.
• Choosing Me2 Club as your Charity of the Year
• School dress down day

If you are interested in finding out more about the different ways of supporting Me2 Club during its 20^th year then please do get in touch with hannah@me2club.org.uk or telephone 0118 969 6369. We would also love to hear from you if there is a child or young person in your family who would benefit from our unique help.

We are excited to share the latest insights from our volunteers who are currently matched at activities with our children and teenagers. These volunteers attend a weekly activity, such as sports clubs, uniform groups and drama classes, with a child with additional needs. The majority (82%) of the volunteers who responded to the survey have been matched at their activity for less than a year and the remainder have been matched for 1-2 years. Many of these volunteers have been matched for less than 3 months as lots of our volunteers left to start university and so children needed a new volunteer in the Autumn term. 

We hope that children accessing our service will experience positive change in their own personal target as well as the three following outcomes 

• Being more independent 
• Gaining confidence 
• Feeling less socially isolated 

The majority (70%) of our volunteers said they had noticed an increase in their matched child’s confidence. And the remainder felt that their matched child’s confidence had stayed the same or they were not sure if it had changed, which may be due to the volunteers not having being matched long enough to see a change. None of the volunteers who completed the survey felt their matched child’s confidence had decreased. One volunteer said “H has progressed very well and has moved up 2 stages in his swimming. He has also improved his confidence in the pool and with his peers.” 

Many of the volunteers (59%) felt their matched child had become more independent and the remining volunteers felt their matched child’s independence had stayed the same (29%) or they were not sure if it had changed (12%). One volunteer shared this about their experience; “I think my matched child enjoys their activities more by just having someone there to talk to if they need space or have any questions. I wish that more children and parents knew about Me2 Club and how much it helps in such a simple way”. 

Our volunteers also reported that many (69%) of the children were interacting with other members of the group more, which indicated they are less socially isolated and are included in their activity. Again, the remainder of the volunteers said the children were interacting with others the same amount as before or they were not sure if there had been a change. The majority (94%) of the volunteers also said they were attending their activity ‘fairly regularly’ or ‘very regularly’ which also indicated the children are less socially isolated as they are able to attend their chosen activity on a regular basis. One volunteer told us this about their matched child “They seem more willing to communicate with others, able to freely be himself.” 

We were pleased to hear so many volunteers are having a positive experience during their volunteering with Me2 Club and hope some of the volunteers who have been with us less than 3 months are able to settle into their roles in this new term. One volunteer told us the training had really help them feel comfortable and equipped. Another volunteers said “It’s been absolutely amazing to get to know everyone and the child that I’m supporting”. 

Thank you to all our amazing volunteers who donate their time each week to support a child to take part in a mainstream activity. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your feedback and sharing your experiences.