Charity widens help to SEND pupils awaiting school

A charity dedicated to helping inclusion is expanding the help it offers to parents of children with special educational needs (SEND) in Surrey.

Challengers said what it called its "alternative provision" is needed because 392 children in the county were still waiting to hear if they had a school place for September 2025.

The charity's work has set up a new programme in Guildford.

Surrey County Council said it had already invested £260m in its SEND programme, and was lobbying central government for wider changes to the system.

Challengers supports children aged two to 18 through a range of services for disabled children, and this new service supports five to 12 year olds with SEND who have no school place.

Gen Dearman from the charity told BBC Radio Surrey: "This means they have somewhere to go, that it's not just home. We can help them understand there's a routine.

"They can play, they can make friends, they can communicate. Without it they would be isolated, their mental health would suffer.

"We want to get them in a place where they know that when they do find a school placement they're ready and able to integrate into education."

Selina Clayton from Ash in Surrey brings her son, who has non-verbal autism to Challengers.

She said: "Children can go there with their families and relax and feel welcomed, and take the time to speak to other parents.

"Their siblings can be with other siblings who understand it."

A spokesman for Surrey County Council said the number of children in the county with EHCPs (Education, Health and Care Plans) "has more than doubled between 2018 and 2025, and there are currently over 45,000 children and young people with SEND".

They said: "We have invested a total of £260 million in our ambitious SEND and alternative provision programmes, to increase our maintained specialist education estate to about 5,760 places by 2032.

"We and other bodies are consistently lobbying government for wider system changes, additional funding and urgent reform."

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