2016 Marked the 30Th Anniversary Since the Start of Pegasus Playscheme and This Year The

Overview

2016 marked the 30th anniversary since the start of Pegasus Playscheme and this year the scheme was chosen as the Kent Messenger’s Charity of the year.

The scheme ran from Monday 25th July until Friday the 12th August inclusive. Pegasus as always strives to provide fun and professional day-care for the benefit of children with a range of disabilities and learning difficulties in the Dover/Deal and surrounding areas.

Pegasus operates an online system of booking through the website; parents/carers and organisations can download forms from the site and return them either via email or hard copy in the post. With a new website imminent we hope that by next year, we will operate an online form filling in process for ease for parents/downloading etc. Applications this year began coming in swiftly however there was a lull towards June and the committee looked at advertising the scheme more widely with flyers to SENCOs in schools and through the advertising space provided in the Kent messenger; as a result of this last push a few moreapplications came in however we did not run to our full capacity of 12 children per group; in fact, over the course of the 3 weeks we took a maximum of 39 children/young adults from the ages of 8-30 as opposed to the 48 full time paying slots we had initially forecasted – this is an area which we will need to focus on next year especially as this is the final year of Pegasus for some of our oldest members who are now reaching the age of 30.

We did welcome some new younger members this year who fully embraced the scheme and feedback from their parents was very positive already asking about how to apply next year!

In a supporting capacity we employed 41 1:1 volunteers aged between 14-18 who be-friend and accompany the children/young adults on the scheme.

In a bid to reduce our costs this year we employed 12 as opposed to the original 16 staff members – this allowed for 1 Group Leader in all groups and 2 assistants – 1 of the assistants was employed in a trainee role in the older group to familiarise herself with the role and the necessary skills/tasks to undertake. We also used an ex group leader to assist/mentor a new group leader for the first 3 days of the scheme to ease them into their role. All staff were friendly, approachable and confident in their role and this supported the smooth day to day running of the scheme. On a daily basis we were sending out an average of 83 people in total across the 4 groups each day.

Venue

Astor College for the Arts was the host once again for Pegasus 2016. We are always greeted warmly by the school and the consistency with venue has ensured continuity and familiarity for parents and clients. The same groups have the same rooms each year; there is easy access for children/young adults with a range of needs and plenty of parking for the buses and parents/carers when dropping children off.

It is useful to have the use of 2 additional rooms on the site for a kitchen/changing room and music room. Also a separate area for reception at the entrance to the building.

Parents feedback positively on the venue. We are supported on site by the caretakers in the event of any problems and they are friendly and welcoming to us.

The administration staff on site are extremely vigilant in ensuring that we follow and adhere to all legalities concerning DBS checks and insist that we provide them with relevant documentation for all members over the age of 16. Implementing the DBS check process require a significant amount of work in relation to checking documents, completing forms etc – for next year’s scheme, we will need to check whether there is a requirement for clients as well as volunteers and staff over the age of 16 to be subject to an enhanced DBS check in accordance with the school’s prerequisites.

This year we encountered a slight problem on setting up day, with the closure of the port of Dover; the impact of this was that since the roads were gridlocked the committee were unable to get to the site to set up when the delivery made it through. Luckily for Pegasus we have some extremely dedicated volunteers who walked to the venue and helped with the setting up – our Pegasus saviours this year! This meant that we were ready for the start on the Monday morning – nothing can stop us!

Transport

Once again we employed Regent Coaches for our day to day transport, they are familiar with Pegasus and as some of the drivers have now been with us several years they know the children and are happy to support the staff with managing their transportation needs, special seats etc. Communication with the drivers individually and the company is very good and when we reported a problem this year it was sorted by the next day and a driver replaced.

The coaches are booked by the project coordinator well in advance of the scheme and our requirements are specified to ensure that we have the right transport to fulfil our needs.This year we had 3 x 31 seaters and 1 x 24 seater, all were comfortable and conformed to relevant safety requirements.

Drivers are issued activity timetables in advance so they can plan their routes; they support each other withsharing key information about parking, facilities, best drop off points and so on.

On a day to day basis we try to keep the same driver with the same group so that we can maintain these positive relationships built between the drivers, staff and children, they in turn respond flexibly to the group’s needs. One of the coach drivers who has been with us now for over 5 years donated his coach mascot a raven to the end of scheme prom. The coaches continue to be one of the most expensive elements of the scheme however they are what makes the range of activities that we do accessible and the ownership of responsibility in regards to getting safely to venues is in their hands.

Who is involved?

Once again, Pegasus continues to run and be led by a Committee. Each member of the committee has a specific role to undertake which in turn ensures that the scheme runs smoothly and all tasks are completed. The committee are as follows:

Sue Clark – Chairperson and fundraiser

Sarah Slingsby – Vice Chairperson, Scheme receptionist and photo coordinator

Kim Bladon – Project co-ordinator – this incorporates a variety of roles such as volunteer coordinator, child coordinator, activities coordinator and Youth Forum.

Val McLester – Treasurer and supplies coordinator

Anna Govan – Staff Coordinator and scheme manager during the 3 weeks.

Joanne Edwards – Staff and reception support

Ang Renders – Youth Forum

Matt Buddle – support as and when required

We are also lucky enough to have a small core group of parents who also offer additional support and advice during the scheme and we are very grateful for their support.

Staff:Applications for staff began in February 2016 – staff from previous years were invited to apply, advertisements were placed on the website, social media and travelled by word of mouth. Interviews took place during the Easter Holiday period and ex-staff were called to interview to ensure that any change in circumstances could be noted and assessed. We employed 13 members of staff. 4 Group Leaders (+ 1 for 3 days to ease a new Group leader in and transition their role) and 8 Assistant Leaders (2 per group, 1 of whom was a trainee) The majority of the staff had worked for Pegasus before in some capacity and their experience is valuable to the scheme and supporting one another with queries etc. Daily staff meetings were held to discuss and alleviate any issues which arose. All staff werepaid weekly. References are requested for all staff and they attend interview (regardless of experience) and a staff training day prior to the commencement of the scheme. All staff and volunteers over 16 are CRB checked. A qualified first aider was present in each group. All staff are recognised by their red uniform shirt and identity badge. Despite some changes in staff this year, there was a fluency and cohesion straight away and all groups worked as an effective team.

Volunteers :41 volunteers once again supported Pegasus this year, as we have come to expect, they are keen and fulfilled their role with professionalism, many of them have now been supporting Pegasus for a good number of years and as such slip into the role with ease. Volunteers attend the training day prior to the start of the scheme to meet staff and familiarise themselves with the needs of the children in their groups. Staff support those new to the role and guide them in building relationships with the children and scaffold how to interact/befriend the children on the scheme. All volunteers sign a code of conduct for behaviour and attend a weekly volunteer meeting. Expenses of £6 per day are paid to them on a Friday. Volunteers are recognised by their navy T-shirts. Feedback from parents/carers of the support the volunteers give the children is always positive and they are immensely grateful for the bonds which are made and seeing the friendly faces of their volunteers each day.

Children:Planning for child applications begins as far back as the November AGM where forms are available for collection. Following this, forms are posted on the Pegasus Website for parents to access, download and complete. Any parent requesting a paper copy of the form can phone and it will be sent to them. We continue to operate a first come first served system for applications and this year discussed the need for a deadline to ensure that we could guarantee we would have enough children for the scheme to run and be financially viable. We held an extraordinary meeting in March to ensure that applications were coming in and that places would be filled. By the deadline of 1st July, payment for places is required; to ensure that we can sustain running the scheme. A deadline also serves to ensure we know how many children we would need to facilitate relatively early on and that funding was guaranteed for our pre-booked activities/coaches etc.We took a total of 43 children across the course of the scheme. A 3 day trial period has proved critical for the inclusion of new children to the scheme and whilst we always try to include them beyond the trial period, it also ensures we are covered if we find they do not meet the criteria laid down in our constitution. Children were aged between 8 and 30 this year and were organised largely in age order across the 4 groups. We had many children who had previously attended and several new children. We are not taking many young children any more – a new advertising campaign may be the way forward for 2017.

Youth Forum:

Alongside the 3 week scheme, Pegasus runs a Youth Forum –this is attended by any Pegasus members over the age of 18, they pay a yearly subscription and then meet once a month in the local pub for a social evening. This is run and organised by Angela Renders and Kim Bladon. The young adults choose the theme for their evenings and also organise activities as a result of these meetings e.g. bowling, quiz nights etc. Feedback form these meetings is always positive – they would like more regular meetings ideally! The Youth Forum has now been running for 6 years.

Activities:

Following child, volunteer, staff and parent feedback we provide a varied and entertaining timetable of activities taking into account preferences of all ages. Some activities are

pre-booked and other days are left free so that the group leaders can plan their day – following discussion with the children and volunteers and also taking into account the weather on the day.

We asked parents/carers to assess the activities undertaken and the results were as follows:

We received 15 replies.

Swimming was this year referred to as Water Sports as the focus was on pool games as opposed to swimming. As such, we were then able to continue to use thepool at Christchurch School in Folkestone –We employed volunteers 3 of whom were also qualified life guards and accompanied swimming groups each day thus ensuring safety for all.

Pre-booked activities in 2016 included Bowling, Horse Riding,Brockhill Park, Canoeing, Sailing, the Vineyard, the cinema and Sea Safari. Following positive feedback from last year, this year Pottery was also booked for all groups and resulted in a ‘mug’ gift for the children to take home at the end of the scheme.

As we are using the same venues for our activities on a yearly basis, the venues are accommodating and recognise the needs of the children on the scheme, providing additional support help/resources if required.

We were very lucky on the whole with the weather and only had a few rainy days. Staff were very good at quick changes of plan to manage the weather.

We even managed a whole scheme outing to the beach which was a fantastic opportunity to see the scheme working on a professional basis and for all children, volunteers, staff and committee to enjoy a day out together.

Other:Photos were once again completed in the form of montages presented to each child. As children were given frames last year, the idea is that each year we update them with the photo only, which they can then put into the frame from last year.

Following a successful last day party at the conclusion of the scheme last year – we decided to repeat this again this year. All parents/carers were invited to sign up for a donation of food to bring and we then held a whole scheme food buffet and celebration of the 3 weeks.

The children/volunteers and staff celebrated the culmination of the scheme at the Pearl prom – a lovely way to end the scheme and a celebration of another successful year.

Our social media Facebook page is proving to be a successful way to pass on messages and increase awareness of the playscheme. We have a 100% response rate.

There is mixed feedback about parent/child feelings of the first and last day and as a committee we will discuss how best to take this forward for 2016 – see graph below.

Parent questionnaires were once again sent out to encourage feedback about certain elements of the scheme, data received was as follows:

Additional Comments:

• Another fantastic year! Thank you so much Pegasus I don’t know what we’d do without you!
• As always extremely pleased with every aspect of Pegasus .I am in complete admiration of the volunteers and staff and Sue for all the hard work and Passion that everyone puts in. A massive ‘thank you’
• Fully enjoyed by everyone – thank you
• Thank you for looking after **** and giving him a lovely few days.
• **** spends all year looking forward to Pegasus it is a benchmark in his year that he looks forward to.
• My child prefers an activity that lasts for the day rather than changing/travelling to a different activity. My child likes being with other young people so benefits from talking with others and having fun. Thank you for another wonderful summer.
• Another fantastic year – you are brilliant!
• I think Pegasus is wonderful I have nothing negative to say.
• A fundraising event where all the children participating could be involved maybe useful? Such as a sponsored event or a fair.

The committee would like to respond to this point by adding that the committee fundraiser arranges a plethora of fundraising events across the course of the year and this year more so than ever as we have been the KM Charity of the year and this has enabled us to access an even wider/additional range of events e.g. The Colour Run, Summer evening of Music and many more. In fact, over 50 events were organised over the course of the year and advertised to parents/carers via our website, emails, facebook and twitter pages.

• **** has had the time of her life – thanks so much!
• My daughter enjoys herself every year and always comes home happy – thank you!
• Many thanks another brilliant year – we are very appreciative.

Points to consider from parent comments:

• Don’t consider the first and last days cost effective
• Would like more horse riding
• **** would like to visit Howletts zoo again

As a committee we have various points to consider ready for Pegasus 2017 (our 31st year!) –

• Will we need to alter the logo as it is now past 30 years?
• Has our catchment changed – how are we reaching out to all children who may fit our criteria?
• What is our age limit? Constitution states 27 – are we going to change this? Are we within charity commission guidelines?
• How do we intend to keep up with changes in legislation – Child protection, DBS, policies, risk assessments etc
• How are we going to ensure that activity bookings are viable up to the date of going?
• Can we complete applications online?
• Is the first and last day still required – mixed feedback from parents.

In conclusion, we have had another successful year, thanks to the dedication of the committee, staff, volunteers and support of parents. Lots of smiley faces mean lots of happy children and that is what it’s all about! Roll on Pegasus 2017!