Amaze AGM & Conference – shaping our future priorities with the local SEND community
Amaze held our Annual General Meeting and SEND Community Conference on 28 November at Sussex University. Huge thanks to everyone who came and contributed to the discussions, making it a lively and useful event. We discussed the daily challenges families face and pressures on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. In addition to hearing from SEND leaders from Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and NHS Sussex about their priorities and commitment to working in co-production with families, there were inspiring talks from Will Ellis, parent carer, actor, channel swimmer and Amaze Ambassador, and Daisy Creswell, MD of Make (Good) Trouble. They talked about their lived experiences of navigating the maze of SEND services, and what needs to change.
At the event we launched our first ever digital impact report showcasing our work in 2023/4. In the videos, parent carers and young people with SEND describe what Amaze means to them. Please take a look at Amaze in figures and watch the series of films to find out more. We also had a range of surgery sessions running for parent carers to get expert advice from Amaze services staff across the day.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the event invited parent carers and partners from local authorities, health and other agencies to reflect on Amaze’s priorities for 2025-2030 to inform our new strategic plan. Small groups discussed what Amaze can do to improve the lives of parent carers and children and young people with SEND, and if there are things we should do stop doing or do differently. You can see the graphic recording of that discussion. Amaze trustees have already looked at the feedback and started to think about priority themes.
There is still time to have your say and feed in your ideas and thoughts to help shape our future plan. We are running three surveys – one each for parent carers, young people and professional/practitioners working in SEND:
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Click here if you are a parent carer: 2024 Families Strategic Plan Survey
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Click here if you are a young person: 2024 Menti voting survey for young people
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Click here if you are a professional or organisation: 2024 Stakeholder Strategic Plan Survey
It only takes 10 minutes to complete and the deadline for responses is 16 December midday. We’ll be drawing three prizes of £25 Love to Shop Vouchers at random for participating parents and young people, and the voucher will be sent to you before the holiday season starts.
If you prefer, just drop an email to [email protected] with your thoughts, or get in touch to arrange a time for a cuppa and a chat instead. We’re not doing a separate survey to gather feedback on the AGM and conference itself, for fear of survey overload, but if you were there any wanted to feedback on any aspects of the day, good or bad, please let us know.
