Making Sense Together

A community day to raise awareness and support people with learning disabilities or autism, promoting inclusivity for all.

Attractions include:

• Quiet place for calm and reflection in St Cuthbert’s Church with quiet colouring activities.
• Market Square - please see activities and exhibitors list below

Information stalls including Healthwatch; Daisy Chain; the Primary Care Trust, the Public Health infant team. For more information on what to expect when attending Making Sense Together please take at look at the Welcome Pack 2024 (Correct as of 1st August 2024)

This document contains information about the event and what to expect during your visit.

Activities - we have tried to programme a variety of sensory, learning and engaging activities for you to enjoy, some may not be to your taste but we hope with all the choice you'll all find things to enjoy throughout the day.

• Love Science We will be using all our senses to make some fizzing lava lamps, using fizzing and foaming reactions to explore hot and cold and making colour changing pictures to take home.
• Science Buddies 
  We have a selection of short hands-on experiments floor and table based that we can rotate throughout the day. Including creating all the colours bath bombs - all individual and all perfect 😀 and bubble experiment – a perfect sensory experience.. We also have short demos that we roll out throughout the day to excite and wow. All can be based on and I front of a stall. All our experiments use accessible equipment and everyone will be able to take part. We have accompanying features such as Makaton and visual instructions, also equipment that is suitable for various motor function issues.
• Complete a Zentangle with Lindsey from Crooked Halo Crafts , zentangles and can help with concentration and fine motor skills.
• Facepainting with the CrazyKidz team a calming experience for the participant. *There may be a queue so please be patient.
• Scrap Studios - What the shark ate plastics he's eaten along with the healthy ocean menu 
• Miss Print - making rain shakers. The children decorate the card tubes with washi tape,  bright stickers and metallic pens and fill with pasta shells.
• Big Little Gigs Join Fran and Sarah from BIG Little Gigs, Tracks Darlington's family music project. They will be making shakers to shake and singalong to their gentle, pop up acoustic music sessions running throughout the event. BIG Little Gigs have been delivering music workshops and their very popular live family gigs for BIG and little people of all abilities to enjoy across the area for nearly ten years.

Information Stands

Healthwatch Darlington are a service that can help to signpost people in Darlington to services that specialise in relating to neurodiversity products/services.

Little SENDsations is a registered charity offering a wide range of support to families of children with all disabilities. We provide accessible play and leisure activities to SEND children and their families. We are a parent-led charity, and we fully understand the struggles and social isolation it can bring having children with SEND. We aim to remove that barrier by providing accessible and enriching activities to children with all disabilities. We pride ourselves on being an empowering, inclusive, and non-judgemental group, where everyone feels welcome.

Daisy Chain The Family Support Service, delivered by Daisy Chain, is for Parents/Carers who have young people aged 0-18 years affected by neurodevelopment diversity. Our aim is to provide support and services for children, young people and their families who display traits associated with neurodevelopmental diversity: autism, sensory processing, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This service is for families pre, during and post diagnosis. For further information about the service please call the family support team on 01642 531248 (Option 1) or email family.support@daisychainproject.co.uk

Darlington Carers Our services are very much tailored towards the support of carers within Darlington, as part of Darlington's Commitment to Carer's Offer. My role is to support parent carers to access support with regards to their caring role of children with additional needs.

Darlington Parent Carer Forum PCF is a group of parent carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities who work with local authorities, education settings, health providers and other providers to ensure the services they plan and deliver meet the needs of families in our area. In addition to this, Darlington PCF also offers a range of peer support in schools, online and in the community. Our peer support sessions aim to bring parent carers together in a safe space, to use their own experiences to help one another. PCF reps are available at all peer support sessions for general advice and signposting, and frequently arrange guest speakers dependent on the needs of the group.

Exhibitor Stands

SENDelight Gifts specializes in sensory toys, educational materials, and therapy aids for children with special needs. We offer an exclusive online portal for parent carers, providing year-round discounts up to 50% in our website (soon to be launched). Our mission is to make essential support both accessible and affordable, promoting inclusivity through our online stores.