ND Family Support Service celebrates NHS partnership recognition

We are pleased to share that our ND Family Support Service has been recognised as an example of good partnership working between health services and the voluntary sector at the recent NHS England Best Practice Health Partnership in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Celebration 2025. 

The award acknowledges the impact the ND Family Support Service has had in supporting local families who are waiting for an assessment (or post assessment) for autism, ADHD or other neurodevelopmental differences. 

ND Family Training and Navigation Service manager, Sav Kanagasundaram, collected our Special Acknowledgement Honour on behalf of the team at a ceremony in Sheffield on 13 February. Sav says:

“It was a great event, and it was lovely to see our hard work celebrated. We feel strongly that families should have access to support while they are waiting and beyond. The information and support they need at this time doesn’t necessarily have to come from a clinician. We can meet a need for families and we hope this also relieves pressure within the system.

“Our collaboration with health services plays to our respective strengths.  NHS Sussex commissioners recognise the role that the voluntary sector can play in responding to local needs needs and building community strengths. And that we bring our lived experience as parent carers and as a neurodiverse organisation.”

NHS Sussex clinical lead for neurodivergence and mental health, Dr Bikram Raychaudhuri, said:

“We know how difficult it can be for families to wait for services when there is a need for support now. While we are working tirelessly to improve access to services across both health and education, we also commission the ND Family Support Service to provide families with compassionate guidance and practical support to understand their child’s needs, as well as their own as parent carers.

“There can be an overwhelming amount of information out there, but the lived experience and professional expertise of the team at Amaze not only allows families to navigate their way through this and find what they may need at any given time, but also provides a valuable way of parent carers joining together to support each other – wherever they are on their journey.”

Our ND Family Support Service also works closely with local Parent Carer Forums (PaCC and ESPCF) and youth voice groups to shape and develop the service. 

The ND Family Support Services works with families with children and young people up to 25 who are pre- or post-assessment for a neurodevelopmental difference such as autism, ADHD or learning disabilities. We work in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove. 

Read more about ND Family Support.