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

Oldham Council has quietly renewed its £200,000-a-year deal with POINT, the Middleton Road charity that gives children with special needs a place to play while their parents catch their breath. The two-year extension, starting this April, keeps the Short Breaks Play and Leisure scheme running without a gap.

Parents who use the service say the relief is immediate. One mum, fresh from POINT's ten-week 'Riding the Rapids' course for families of autistic children, told councillors the sessions had handed her a 'super-power' to understand both her child and her own recent autism diagnosis.

Activities on offer range from adapted cycling in Alexandra Park to cinema nights laid out like a real theatre, plus trips as far afield as Blackpool Illuminations and Flamingo Land. Staff tailor every session to the child's needs, so no two days at the Chadderton base are the same.

Council chiefs argue that keeping the £400,000 total contract in the voluntary sector saves money in the long run by heading off more expensive crisis support. They also credit POINT with building the kind of trust that official services struggle to match.