Delamere Helps Special Spirits Extend Their Activities For Special Needs Children In Manchester And Salford

Special Spirits is an after-school club for Jewish children from age 5 up to 18 with a wide range of disabilities including autistic spectrum disorder, downs syndrome and physical disabilities.  It provides programs for over 30 children four days a week plus extended programs and sleepaway camps during school and Jewish holidays.

The club provides transport to ensure their services are accessible to all young people who need.  It builds their social and life skills and their confidence, so as to give them a better place in society.

Thanks to Delamere’s first Gershon Rothman Funding they were able to accept more children and extend their services to satisfy wider educational needs in art, baking, sports and music with each activity tailored to the needs of each child.

The feedback from this first round of funding was so positive that Delamere was delighted to be able to award further Janette Cattan Memorial funding to continue and develop this vital work for a further two years.  When this funding was also successfully utilised, Delamere made a further award to continue the services for an additional year.

Appreciative Comments

“Thanks to your Gershon Rothman award, we took our services to a new level and with the help of each child’s individual keyworker, we were able to teach them new skills.  The children achieve better as they are in a familiar, comfortable, calm, safe and happy environment.

I have no words to thank you!!! You will be taking Special Spirits to a further new level!

Hashem should repay you for all your amazing work!”

Special Spirits’ Director, Chaya Einhorn

Here are a few excerpts from the feedback which Special Spirits receives.

FOOD APPRECIATION: P’s mum came downstairs and found her daughter cutting up vegetables.  She asked her what she is doing and she answered I’m preparing a salad for myself for lunch.  When asked where she got the vegetables from, she answered – I went to Tesco with Special Spirits and chose to buy vegetables to make a salad!

WOODWORK:  We have taken woodwork to a new level. We have brought in a woodcraft designer and using real woodwork equipment (work stations, saws etc) the children have created their very own shtenders!  The teacher said these children were able (with the help of a one-to-one keyworker) to work and concentrate better than the children he works with from the mainstream schools – who would have dreamt!

ART: The feedback we are getting from the parents is extremely positive.  The parents and children are all giving feedback that the children are really learning to become independent.  One child in a recent feedback wrote she has learnt from Special Spirits how to be calm! How wonderful!

Neighbours and friends of the families are also calling to tell Special Spirits how the families have changed for the better because Special Spirits staff are caring for their children.  They are feeling the support and it is helping them a lot.