Mum converts ambulance into SEND sensory van

A woman has converted an ambulance into a mobile sensory service to help support families with SEND children, including during the school holidays.

Rebecca O'Neill, from Mansfield Woodhouse, who has two children with additional needs, said the decommissioned ambulance had been fitted with artificial grass and interactive equipment to offer a calming, engaging and inclusive experience.

"There's not enough support or activities for SEND families like mine," the 39-year-old said.

She said she had now set up SafeStim - a not-for-profit organisation - to help support SEND children in the community with the mobile service.

O'Neill said her son, 18, and nine-year-old daughter were both diagnosed with additional needs at the age of four.

"I was doing 12-hour shifts and was struggling to manage their needs," she said.

"I don't have any support or childcare, so I stepped back from my job last year."

She said she had set up a support network for struggling families over the past year.

"The percentage of parents that are carers for their children that have had to quit work is really high, so it just shows you how little support there is for us," O'Neill said.

"Everything's a big application form. Everything's a waiting list.

"There's not really any direct services that tell you where to go for support."

O'Neill said her frustration led her to successfully apply for funding to transform the decommissioned ambulance into a sensory environment to help "families like mine".

She said the SafeStim van features calming lights, tactile objects, weighted items, soft furnishings and visual stimulation.

"There needs to be more services that offer support, therapeutic engagement and activities," she said.

"There's soft play areas that put on SEND sessions, but that's once a month.

"There are some holiday activities but you have to apply and then you get given a set date, so it's not flexible and there's limited availability."

The van opened its doors for the first time last month and has made appearances at charity events and can also be privately booked.

"I'm hoping that I can give people support," she said.

"Especially in the summer holidays, there's not really much for SEND families to do, there's nowhere to go.

"The response I've had has been amazing.

"The community support, the messages from people from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, to ask if I can travel.

"It frustrates me because it tells me there's not enough services."

Families are also offered other services including help with health passports, behaviour support plans, sensory toolkits and sleep support.

Nichola Willetts, from Warsop in Nottinghamshire, who uses the service for her nine-year-old daughter, said the support the family has received had "helped massively".

The 41-year-old said she had been waiting more than three years for an official diagnosis for autism for Miley from a hospital paediatrician.

"The last two months have been absolutely horrendous," she said.

"It's very difficult to be able to provide anywhere for Miley to self-regulate, relax and calm down.

"She absolutely loves going to the van, she can relax and play.

"She can be herself rather than having to go out where people are looking at her because she's not behaving in ways that people are expecting."

The mother of two said O'Neill has also helped the family to create a sensory room in a shed in their garden, and supported them with school paperwork.

Willetts said she has now booked the sensory van for Miley's 10th birthday.

"It'll be the first time Miley will have a party. She doesn't do them because it's too much for her," she added.

O'Neill said she has applied for further funding and hopes to expand the service by opening a permanent SEND activity centre in Mansfield next year.

"It's going to have interactive tables, sand pits, walls, floors, a soft sensory gym - so swings, climbing wall - and anybody can access it," she said.

"Somewhere people can engage and regulate, and the whole family can enjoy.

"A safe, controlled environment, where they won't feel anxious.

"We hope to have a team of professionals, a sleep practitioner, speech and language therapist, that are also SEND parents," she added.

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