On 29^th April Bridge College students took part in an ‘all-college’ Student Parliament meeting via Zoom as part of the Student Voice curriculum.

This event enabled students across the country to meet, discuss and collaborate on topics that are important to them. It was an opportunity to bring the collective Learner Voice to one forum and have their say.

Marie spoke to us about her time in unregulated accommodation before moving to the Together Trust and her experience of moving to independence.  

I was in and out of emergency placements because they couldn’t find anywhere to place me, so my social worker took me to a caravan in Preston, which called a crisis placement. She said I would be there for 28 days, but I was there for 12 weeks and 3 days. The whole time I didn’t see any of my friends, I didn’t go to school, I didn’t see anyone. 

To help celebrate World Autism Awareness Day 2021, 2 April, and raise awareness, we would like to introduce one of our pupils’ favourite staff members at our specialist school, Inscape House School - Coco. A gorgeous Shih Tzu support dog who has been an invaluable member of the transitions team since 2019.

At Inscape House School, we break down barriers to learning for children with autism, and we support young people from Year 1 to Year 14.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported our Virtual Easter appeal this year.

We were overwhelmed with the generous donations from our supporters and local community for our Easter appeal. Your support has ensured that the young people and adults we support will receive a chocolate treat or gift over the Easter holidays.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is recognised between 15 - 21 March this year and it aims to celebrate and raise awareness around neurological variations such as autism, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and others.

Are you interested in local history? Would you enjoy learning a new skill and helping to preserve people’s stories and experiences? 

As part of the Together Trust’s 150th anniversary celebrations, we are looking for volunteers to take part in an Oral Histories Project.  

Each year we run our annual easter appeal, where we ask people from our local community to donate chocolate eggs to the people we support. This year, due to the impact of Covid-19 and local restrictions, we need your help to raise money to ensure we can provide treats for the people we support this Easter.

Not all of the young people we support are able to have chocolates or edible treats, so we want to ensure we have alternative gifts available as well as the traditional chocolate eggs.

2021 is a year of the Ox, starting from 12 February 2021 (Chinese Lunar New Year Day) and lasts until 31 January 2022. The new year, also known in China as the Spring Festival, is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar. This means the date changes from year to year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, Bridge College students spent the week finding out about Chinese culture, traditions and Pangu (a being in mythology). 

On Friday 19 February, the government announced that there will be new legislation to ban placements in unregulated homes for under 16s from September 2021 and Ofsted will have new powers to enforce action against illegal unregister providers. However, it will not regulate independent and semi-independent accommodation for children in care and care leavers aged 16 and 17 years-old.