Family Voice Norfolk

21/01/2026

Pop into the Millennium Library in The Forum, Norwich NR2 1AW, TODAY (Wednesday 21st January from 10.00 am – 2.00pm)
from 10.00 am – 2.00 pm, to chat to the Triage Assistant and Disability Rights Advisor from the Disabled Person’s Organisation Equal Lives, for free, confidential advice, information & guidance on:

🔹Welfare Rights and Disability Benefits

🔹Health and Social Care needs Assessments

🔹Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

🔹Rights and Entitlements

🔹Employment/Housing and Accessibility

🔹Grants/Food Support and Income Maximisation.

(Please note they do not fill out welfare benefit forms)

Equal Lives is a user-led disability rights organisations covering Norfolk and Suffolk, and for some projects, East Anglia.

20/01/2026

We’re looking forward to attending the free Making Sense of SEND event tomorrow!

If you’ve not booked your free place, walk-ins are welcome. It’s a fabulous event for parents and carers of a child with SEND aged 0-25.

🔹 Get advice from over 20 information stands

🔹 Listen to a Talk from the School and Community team about how they support children, families, and
schools with emerging SEND and strategies that can help.

🔹 Speak with a member of the EHCP team or a SEND advisor to give feedback on your experience - Spaces bookable on the day

Hope to see you tomorrow! 😊

19/01/2026

📣 Booking for our Annual Conference 2026 is OPEN!

🔶 The free-to-attend event is exclusively for parents and carers who have children and young people aged 0-25 with special eductional needs and/or disability (SEND).

It is designed to give parents and carers access to:
🔸 Information stands
🔸 Workshops and presentations
🔸 The chance to chat with professionals both on stands and through individual 1:1 sessions bookable on the day (subject to availability)

To book scan the QR code or click here 👉 https://shorturl.at/PofMq

19/01/2026

If you or someone you know needs care services, you can use Norfolk County Council’s online contribution calculator to work out if you need to contribute to care costs.

It’s a free service that’s confidential and easy to use. All you need to do is enter details of your benefits, pensions, earnings, savings, assets and essential costs. The details you enter won’t be seen by NCC unless you share it with them.
The Calculator will then tell you what you might need to contribute towards the cost of any services. Please note it’s only an estimate, and NCC will check your details if you were going through a formal care assessment.

You can read more about paying for care here ➡️ https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/41796/Will-I-have-to-pay-for-my-care

Online Contribution Calculator ➡️ https://adultsocialcare.norfolk.gov.uk/web/portal/pages/using-the-online-calculator

Source: Norfolk County Council

18/01/2026

Two FREE online workshops for parents of children in early years (age 0-5) with SEND, from Contact - For families with disabled children

🗓 Wednesday 21st January – Wellbeing support for families of children with SEND
🗓 Thursday 29th January – Understanding your child’s sensory differences
🗓 Thursday 26th February - Brighter Beginnings - Money Matters

Booking is via Eventbrite and spaces fill up fast, and DfE funding for this programme ends in late March so please do make most of these informative sessions 👉

Workshops for families with disabled children aged 5 and under. If there are no workshops listed, please come back soon as we're always adding new dates.

17/01/2026

Join West Norfolk Autism Group for a talk from specialists in communication strategies and Signalong.

🗓 Tuesday 27th January
🕘 9am to 1pm
📍 Dragonfly Hotel King's Lynn - Surya Hotels, Hardwick Narrows, King's Lynn, PE30 4NB.

The main presentation from the Family Action team will be around communication differences and difficulties, strategies for communicating more effectively and moving on to demand avoidance/anxiety and taking a low demand approach. This is aimed at anyone supporting a neurodivergent child (up to adulthood).

There will be a presentation from Claire Pooley, a specialist in Signalong. Signalong is a key word sign-supported communication system based on British Sign Language and is used in spoken word order.

Everyone with an interest in this is welcome to book, including professionals .

A donation of £5 is requested if possible please.

For any queries email hello@westnorfolkautismgroup.org.uk

Book here ➡️ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/communication-presentation-tickets-1978773149758?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Source: West Norfolk Autism Group

Join us for a talk from specialists in communication strategies and Signalong.

16/01/2026

Join Family Action's Norfolk & Waveney Autism/ADHD Support Service online workshop where they talk about schools and neurodivergence.

No bookings needed, just note the Zoom joining details on the flyer and join on the day.

If you wish to join their closed Facebook group, go to the Family Action page and then search for Norfolk and Waveney Autism and ADHD Support Service.

Source: Family Action's Norfolk & Waveney Autism/ADHD Support Service

16/01/2026

ASD Helping Hands have launched ‘Families Together’ - a free, in-person 6-week programme in Dereham for Norfolk families with an autistic child/young person (or a child/young person on the waiting list for an autism assessment).

See post below for more information and interest form 👇

🌟 Launching Families Together – Whole-Family Autism Support 🌟

We’re delighted to open our interest form for Families Together — a free, in-person 6-week programme in Dereham for Norfolk families with an autistic child/young person (or a child/young person on the waiting list for an autism assessment).

This is a whole-family approach: parents/carers and young people attend at the same time, in the same venue, so families can take part together.

✅ Parents/Carers: practical guidance and strategies (including up to two free places on our Just Diagnosed? course)
✅ Young People: a structured, autism-informed group programme focusing on confidence, emotional wellbeing, coping tools and friendships
✅ Small groups (up to 6 young people), with 6–11 and 12–16 cohorts running across the year

📅 First cohort starts April 2026 — register your interest now using the link at the bottom of this post, and we’ll be in touch to confirm eligibility and cohort dates.

💙 Funded by Norfolk Community Foundation’s A Better Childhood Fund – Supporting Families with SEND programme.

https://www.asdhelpinghands.org.uk/families-together/

16/01/2026

📚Enjoy reading?

Did you know library members can access 7,000+ newspapers and magazines from over 120 countries using PressReader?

Features of the App include translation into 60+ languages and audio narration, with offline reading ideal for travel.

For more information scan the QR code, or visit the Norfolk Libraries website for more information 👉 https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/ebooks #:~:text=eNewspapers%20and%20eMagazines%20from%20PressReader

15/01/2026

Educational resources available for Place2Be's Children's Mental Health Week 9-15 February 2026!

The official Children's Mental Health Week 2026 resources are available for you to download! Whether you're a primary school, secondary school, family, community group or workplace, they’ve got activities and resources for you here 👉 https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/

You’ll also find resources on the BBC Bitesize website 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/articles/zk37bdm

Source: www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk and www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/childrens-mental-health-week

Children's Mental Health 2025 is taking place from 3-9 February 2025 with our theme of Know Yourself, Grow Yourself.

14/01/2026

There’s still time to book your FREE place at the Making Sense of SEND event in Sheringham next week.

It’s an opportunity to:
✅ Get advice from over 20 information stands
✅ Listen to a Talk from the School and Community team about how they support children, families, and
schools with emerging SEND and strategies that can help.
✅ Speak with a member of the EHCP team or a SEND advisor to give feedback on your experience - Spaces bookable on the day

You can book your free place by scanning the QR code or here 👉 https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/40579/Making-Sense-of-SEND

14/01/2026

Sunbeams Community Hub in Great Yarmouth, have added in 5 new groups for children, young people and adults with Autism and young carers.
Check them out 👇

🟡 Little Stars Stay and Play sessions for pre-school children on Monday and Friday mornings, 9.30am to 11.30am

🟡 A new stay & play, group 'Bright Beginnings' for 6-8 yr olds who have been unable to access a suitable educational setting. Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9.30am to 12.30pm

🟡 Reset, a young carers group for 12 to 16 year olds. Thursdays 5-8pm (running alongside their current group for 6 to 12 yr olds 4.30 to 7.30pm)

🟡 Game & Connect for 18-25 year olds with an interest in tabletop and card games, including Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons and Pokemon.

For more information contact them on:
📧info@sunbeamsplay.org.uk

💻Through messenger on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sunbeamsplaygtyarmouth?

📱 01493 442181

You can find out more about Sunbeams and what that offer here ➡️ https://www.sunbeamsplay.org.uk/home