Oldham Council approves vital funding to support children and families with SEND through short breaks play and leisure activities

Oldham Council has agreed to keep paying POINT, the Middleton Road charity, £200,000 a year until March 2028 so its play sessions, trips and parent courses for families of children with special needs can carry on without a break. The decision, quietly approved at town hall this week, means the 170-plus youngsters who use the Short Breaks Play and Leisure scheme each month will keep their weekend clubs, sensory rooms and adapted cycling at Alexandra Park.

Parents say the relief is immediate. One mum who finished POINT's ten-week 'Riding the Rapids' course for carers of autistic children told councillors the classes handed her 'a super-power' to understand both her child and her own autism. Another dad said the weekly respite let him catch up on sleep knowing his daughter was safe, adding that without it 'we'd be back in crisis mode'.

The charity's ledger shows why the town hall listened. Over the past three years POINT has logged 9,400 attendances, run 48 family trips as far as Flamingo Land, and handed out 1,300 hours of free one-to-one support. Early help files link the service to a 28% drop in referrals to the council's costlier overnight respite units, saving an estimated £340,000 since 2023.

Council papers reveal the new contract keeps the same tight budget: £200k a year, frozen at 2023 levels, with no allowance for inflation. Officers admit that will mean 'creative scheduling' as energy and staffing costs rise, but they argue losing the existing team would cost far more in statutory placements down the line.

For now, the timetable stays. Music sessions resume in Chadderton on 4 April, the first Blackpool Illuminations coach is pencilled in for October, and the next Riding the Rapids course opens its waiting list next month. Staff warn places will fill fast; they already have 90 families queued.