Aiming Higher Charity in Blackpool is thrilled to announce its recent award of £268,704 from the National Lottery Community Fund.

This generous funding will empower the charity to continue its Reaching Resilience Project for the next three years, significantly enhancing support for families of children with additional needs across Blackpool, Fylde, and Wyre.

The Reaching Resilience team at Aiming Higher is dedicated to providing early interventions in key areas such as diagnosis, education, health, and wellbeing. Also by creating accessible community venues, these initiatives ensure families with disabled children can connect and build networks without the fear of judgment.

The funding will allow for the implementation of a robust triage and tiering system, allowing tailored support based on each family’s unique needs instead of a generic waiting list. Families will benefit from bespoke group sessions and toolkits designed to manage things such as challenging behaviors, fostering resilience and knowledge of support networks.

Charity Manager Latoya Sykes and Project Manager Jenny Jones with some of the families the Charity support.

placeholder image — Charity Manager Latoya Sykes and Project Manager Jenny Jones with some of the families the Charity support.

Additionally, Aiming Higher will introduce an advice line and weekly drop-in sessions, ensuring easily accessible face-to-face support. These initiatives aim to alleviate stress for families, reduce the necessity for crisis intervention, and promote long-term wellbeing.

This funding marks a pivotal moment for Aiming Higher, reaffirming its commitment to supporting the community's most vulnerable families. The feedback from our families is invaluable, poignant and very humbling for our staff.

Our families are the experts and we continuously adapt our services to suit the need of support required in our community. Aiming Higher are proudly looking forward to establishing our new services and continuing to provide the much needed advice and support for children with additional needs, and their families in our community.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for ALL your valuable support. I really don’t have the words to say how much I appreciate your help over the last few months. You’ll probably just say, you were doing your job! No, you really went above and beyond. You have been rocks at very uncertain times to our family and I highly respect you for dropping everything with no warning and supporting us through it.

"I was a complete mess and broken that first day I met you. I was lost. You were sent to us that day, true angels you are. I’ve felt relaxed around you which has allowed me to grow in strength. You’ve helped build my confidence, allowing me to gain understanding of my family’s needs and through that, I’ve learned to advocate and be steadfast. Now we’re set free and building ourselves a new home and a new life with new adventures. You have been a big part of that journey. I will be forever grateful to you and Aiming Higher as a whole. Thank you.”

“I’ve learned a new way to parent as never had a child with disabilities before. School understands a lot more now with your help. The trips have been a life saver at times we wouldn’t be able to go if it wasn’t for Aiming Higher. It’s been good to have someone to talk to. Thank you I really appreciate it.”