Special Needs
Community First, a local charity based in Fareham town centre. Offering support services in Fareham & Hampshire.
Connect Transport: Local charity, Community First's Connect Transport service offers affordable and accessible weekday travel for anyone who finds traditional buses unviable. Trips are £6.20 return to anywhere in Fareham & Gosport and run between 9.15am to 2.45pm, Monday to Friday. Book your trips by calling 0333 015 1271 Monday to Friday from 8.30am-12noon and 1pm-3.30pm.
This service also offers a weekly social club to different cafes/pubs, and shopping centres on Wednesdays called Tea & Tiffin, and weekly group shopping trips to further-out supermarkets called Weekly Shopper.
Local Services:
Home Help and Mend & Tend: Local charity, Community First's Home Services, provides cost-effective assistance for anyone living in Gosport, Fareham or Havant, and surrounding areas who is unable to properly maintain their homes from their housework and/or shopping to fixing things, decorating and nurturing their garden!
Healthy Walks: Fareham Healthy Walks are guided group walks throughout Fareham, led by volunteers. With a new programme every two months. Walks last between 30 and 90 minutes and suit people of varied abilities.
Volunteer First: VolunteerFirst.co.uk is like a job site but for volunteering. Full of 100s of opportunities from local organisations looking for support. From one-off help needed for events to regular several hours a week, there is a vast variety of roles available to suit any skills and time. If you can't find anything you are interested in, contact the team at hello@volunteerfirst.co.uk and they can help further.
KIDS South East
KIDS works with children and young adults who have disabilities and other special needs. It aims to increase opportunities for children with special needs to enjoy the things most other children simply take for granted. They offer a wide range of services, several of which are listed below. For further information please contact:
KIDS South East, Delta House, Salterns Lane, Fareham
Tel: 01329 312312
Parent & Baby Group (ages 0-2 years)
Mondays 9.30 am- 12 noon
Developmental Play Sessions (2-3years)
These sessions are designed to help meet the needs of parents and children who have recently been diagnosed with special needs.
Nursery (3-5 years)
Monday to Friday morning and afternoon sessions.
KIDS provides other services including residential respite care, short term breaks, Saturday Fun Clubs, playschemes and Young Carers’ groups.
Portage and Portage Plus (Fareham & Gosport)
Portage is a home visiting service that offers help, support and advice to families with a young child who has special needs. Children with a known disability can be helped from birth. A Portage home visitor will talk to you about the service and together you will decide if you and your child would benefit from the service. Portage plus is a service for parents and pre-schools who are having difficulties managing a child's challenging behaviour in the home and in the pre-school. Please contact: Margaret Dunne or Bev Garland on 01329 283498.
The Rainbow Centre for Conductive Education Ltd
Cams Hill School, Shearwater Avenue, Fareham
01329 289500
Sports Association for the Disabled GADSAD
The Association offers sport for disabled people of all ages and abilities, indoor and out.
Contact Graham Clarke on 01329 511678
Contact a Family
Support and information for all families and carers of children with disabilities.
Contact: Area Representative for Hampshire 01252 545345.
Fareham Opportunity Group
Aims to integrate special needs children with able-bodied children from 0-5 years.
For more information please contact 01329 823471
Face Us Project
Offers support to families with a deaf/hard of hearing child or parent.
Contact: Gail Tong 01256 334959 voice/minicom
Visual Impairment
The Early Years Inclusion Officer for the RNIB works with any child aged 0-5 years with a visual impairment.
Contact: Briony Higgins 07787 938788
Hampshire Association for Care of the Blind - Fareham
Contact Mrs Jenny Robinson Tel: 01329 310651
Oak Meadow Centre
There are community workers who have experience with special needs children who can support parents in a variety of ways.
Services that are available include:
Day-care for children aged from 6 months to 5 yrs
Breakfast and after-school club
Family learning courses
A toy library and play sessions
Bumps and Babes
Community Workers to support you
Holiday clubs, activities and family fun days
For further details contact The Oak Meadow Early Years and Family Centre, Tewkesbury Avenue, Fareham, PO16 7NR,
Tel: 01329 841097
Speakeasy
Providing a voice and support to people with learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders and/or Aspergers syndrome throughout Hampshire.