Our funding has helped Westcountry-based MoorVision embed services for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
MoorVision is a network for families of children and young people with vision impairment aged 0-29 throughout Devon and Cornwall. Founded by Laura Hughes, 19 years ago, following her daughter’s experience of navigating the world with vision loss.
Backed with this experience and very familiar with the needs of families impacted by vision loss, MoorVision aims to:
• Tackle isolation.
• Organise accessible group activities.
• Promote education advocacy.
Our funding has enabled MoorVision to accelerate support for families who are navigating the complex SEND system by funding a dedicated staff member.
“Children only have that one window to start school, to learn, to transition to secondary school, to enjoy school, and if you miss it, it takes years to recover.”
Advocacy and action: SEND support
MoorVision’s SEND support is a relatively new addition (piloted in 2024 taking on ad hoc cases) to the aims of the organisation. Since launching this year, the organisation is supporting 30 families with breaking down the barriers to accessing the educational support their children need by upskilling and equipping parents to navigate the system.
Our funding is ensuring MoorVision can provide support in three ways:
• Covering the cost of generic courses by IPSEA (The Independent Provider of Special Education Advice).
• Group sessions where the above courses are made specific to vision impairments.
• Individual advocacy - particularly complex cases where families need additional support to appeal decisions.
A major barrier is local authorities saying no. "There's a very simple level of criteria for being assessed for the additional support their child needs, yet we’re hearing from parents when we ask about schooling, that they’re being turned down for assessments, which means they can't access this SEND support. Even when their child is registered severely sight impaired! So, we realised that many local authorities, mainly due to funding cuts, are just saying no. Statistically only 3% of families appeal to the SEND Tribunal. But of that number, 97% win that appeal.”
MoorVision also runs accessible activities such as outdoor activity trips, sports and theatre visits, throughout the year, but Laura, whose daughter is vision impaired, knew that these activities aren't enough: "They could do four hours of canoeing, bushcraft skills, climbing, etc, with us on a Saturday, but if you're spending 25 hours a week in school without the appropriate support and it's all going very wrong, that’s not going to really cut it.
“It’s such a lottery for these children, if they miss one or two years of education, it’s so hard to recover, and there’s a great deal of research into poor education outcomes and experiences linked to poor mental health and anxiety. And that doesn’t even consider the isolation children feel when they’re having to sit separately from their friends, or falling behind in modules due to a lack of accessible resources.”
The funding was awarded to MoorVision as part of an application round specifically funding projects supporting children and young people across the country. As an evidence-based funder our rounds are guided by research that we have commissioned to understand what life is like for someone with a visual impairment.
People who are blind and vision impaired are three times more likely to experience loneliness and isolation.
