Choice Wellbeing Service CIC

16/02/2026

🌈🌈 Rainbow Guide Live Day 🌈🌈

We are excited to announce that we are now able to offer every child a 🥪 FREE PACKED LUNCH! 🥪

With thanks to Sunderland and South Tynesides HAF programmes, we will be able to offer lot's of children a free packed lunch!

Lunches not covered by the programmes will be covered by Choice, so no child goes without 😊

As you can see below, the day is shaping up to be amazing, with soo many organisations and fun involved!

To register your child for a free packed lunch, please fill in the details below!

https://www.choicewellbeingservice.org/rainbow-guide-live

Team CWS ✨✨

16/02/2026

Parent/Carer Get Together - Tomorrow 10.30am At The Rainbow Hub - Come along for a Chat, cuppa and some cake ☕️🍰

15/02/2026

✨ We Need Your Help to Create a Welcoming SEND Family Hub ✨

We are so excited to be opening our new Family SEND Hub at Choice Wellbeing Service — a safe, supportive space for children with additional needs and the families who care for them.

While our funding covers the rent for this much-needed building, we now need your help to turn it into a warm, welcoming environment.

Right now, the rooms are empty — but with your support, they could soon be filled with:
🪑 Comfortable seating for families
🎨 Child-friendly and sensory-safe furniture
🧩 Spaces for workshops, support groups, and connection
🌿 Soft furnishings to create a calm, inviting atmosphere

For many of our families, walking into a new space can feel overwhelming. We want their first experience to be one of comfort, belonging, and understanding.

Every donation — no matter how small — helps us transform this building into a true community hub where families feel supported and children can thrive.

If you can’t donate, please share this post to help us reach more people.

Together, we can create something truly special. 💛

🔗 Donate here: https://gofund.me/76d59eedf

14/02/2026

Thanks for sharing Together for Children 👏🏻

Available to download in your AppStore under Rainbow Guides 🫶🏻

Did you know you can now download the Rainbow Guide Sunderland App? 🌈

Sunderland’s much‑loved Rainbow Guide — the go‑to guide for SEND support, written by parent carers for parent carers — is now even easier to access. 💛

Whether you're feeling overwhelmed, looking for support, or just need to know what services and groups are out there, the Rainbow Guide is designed to be a light in a difficult time, bringing together local organisations, friendly groups, and parent‑led support across the city.

13/02/2026

🫶 You are already handling more than you think you can handle 🫶

Being a parent carer means waking up every day to a role you never applied for, never trained for, and never clock out from.

It means managing medications and meltdowns, appointments and admin, therapies and tears — sometimes all before lunch. It means learning a new language of acronyms and advocating in rooms where you have to be both calm and fierce at the same time.

And somehow, it also means making packed lunches, answering emails, remembering birthdays, and trying to be present for everyone else in your life.

There are days when it feels like too much. When the weight of responsibility presses heavy on your chest. When you wonder how you’re supposed to keep going at this pace.

But here’s the quiet truth: you are already handling more than you ever thought you could.

You didn’t grow stronger because it was easy. You grew stronger because love demanded it.

You’ve developed resilience you never knew you had. You’ve learned patience in moments that would test anyone. You’ve found creativity in problem-solving. You’ve discovered courage in speaking up. You’ve built endurance in the middle of exhaustion.

That doesn’t mean you don’t struggle. It doesn’t mean you don’t cry in the shower or lie awake worrying about the future. Strength and struggle can exist in the same breath.

Being a parent carer isn’t about “coping perfectly.” It’s about showing up again and again, even when you feel emptied out. It’s about loving fiercely in circumstances that are complex and often misunderstood.

If today feels heavy, let this remind you:

You are not weak for finding it hard.
You are not failing because you’re tired.
You are not alone in carrying more than most people see.

You are doing something extraordinary in very ordinary, unseen moments.

And even on the days when you feel like you can’t possibly handle one more thing — you are.

Team CWS

🫶

12/02/2026

Big feelings can feel extra big for our SEND children.
And as parent carers, knowing how to talk about emotions—without overwhelming them or ourselves—can feel really hard.

That’s why we created Busy Book for Busy Brains!

It’s an easy-to-use workbook with:
🐝 simple information to help you talk about mental health and emotions
🐝 fun, low-pressure worksheets you can do together
🐝 activities that help children understand their feelings in ways that make sense to them!

No medical language.
No “one size fits all”.
Just practical, supportive tools you can dip in and out of on your own terms.

If you’ve ever sat there thinking “I want to help, but I don’t know where to start” — this is for you!

This Children’s Mental Health Week, we’re reminding parent carers:
You don’t have to do everything.
You don’t have to do it perfectly.
And you don’t have to do it alone.

Team CWS 🌈

11/02/2026

✨✨ EXCITING NEWS ✨✨

Coming soon - The SEND Hub by Choice Wellbeing Service hub!

This is something that we have worked incredibly hard towards and really excited to open up to our SEND community.

The hub will offer:

- parent carer holistic support,
- information, advice & guidance,
- parent carer counselling,
- learning library,
- try before you buy* equipment showcases,
- health clinics for those parents who need check ups,
- training/classes,
- multi agency support sessions,
- Drop ins,
- Socialising nights, ie bingo etc,
- Fitness classes
- Coffee mornings,
- Children's sessions,
- and much more!

We want to create a truly inclusive supportive space that offers a holistic view to care. We want this hub to be the community hub, available to all... as parent carers ourselves, we want to make it exactly what we needed/need.

It's in a prime location for buses and drivers, with on site parking and accessible entrances.

We cannot wait to tell you all more! So keep an eye out!

Team CWS 🥳

11/02/2026

Children’s Mental Health Week can bring so many mixed emotions for parent carers.

We see how deeply our children feel the world around them. We see the joy, the giggles, the curiosity… but we also see how overwhelming emotions can become, especially for our children who experience feelings in bigger, more intense, harder-to-explain ways.

Us parent carers are often the safe place, the translator of emotions to everyone else around them, the regulator, the advocate, and the comfort — all while we try to manage our own worries, exhaustion, and uncertainty. It can be beautiful, but it can also be incredibly heavy.

At Choice Wellbeing Service, we see you.
We see the strength it takes to show up every day.
We see the love behind the exhaustion.

And we know that supporting children’s mental health also means supporting parent carers too.

There is no perfect way to support your child’s emotional wellbeing. There is only showing them they are safe to feel what they feel and being calm and patient — and you’re already doing more than you realise just by showing up for them every day!

This Children’s Mental Health Week, we want parent carers to know:
🌈You are not alone
🌈Your wellbeing matters too
🌈It is okay to ask for support
🌈You are doing an incredible job, even on the days it doesn’t feel like it

Choice Wellbeing Service will always be here to support both you and your child, because when parent carers feel supported, children feel it too.

Team CWS 🌈

09/02/2026

🤩 SEND in Sunderland network 🤩

Join us on Wednesday For our next SEND in Sunderland Network!

A great opportunity for those who work with SEND children or families. It is a great way to keep up with what is happening in Sunderland in regards to SEND, to connect with others working in the same sector, and an opportunity to meet like minded individuals supporting the SEND community.

The group is held bi-monthly with guest speakers and ample opportunity to network before and after. This months guest speakers are:

Sunderland GP Alliance

Easton Care & Education

Please register your interest below to receive your invite!

https://forms.wix.com/r/7303011385351340409

You can also access our group SEND In Sunderland Network here.

** Please note, this network is strictly for those working with SEND families in either voluntary or paid roles. This event is not open to the public/parent carers.

09/02/2026

Parent/Carer Get Together - Tomorrow 10.30am at The Rainbow Hub Washington. Pop along for a chat a cuppa, and some cake 😊

09/02/2026

🌈 Children’s Mental Health Week 🌈

This week is about children’s mental health and the theme this year is "This is my Place"— but we want to pause and recognise something important.

For children with additional needs, mental health support doesn’t always look like talking, sharing feelings, or joining in activities.

Sometimes it looks like:
💛 feeling safe
💛 being understood
💛 having their needs recognised
💛 being supported in ways that work for them

And for parents and carers, it often means advocating, adapting, learning, and holding space — even when it’s exhausting.

If you’re supporting a child with additional needs, please know this:
You don’t have to do everything perfectly.
You don’t have to follow every awareness theme.
You’re already supporting your child’s mental health by showing up, caring, and responding to their needs.

And most importantly... You are usually their "place"... because you are everything to them.

We see you 💛
And you’re not alone.

Keep an eye out for more resources and support available to you, from Choice Wellbeing Service.

If you need someone to chat to as you're not sure how to support them, drop us a message or access our service here:

https://www.choicewellbeingservice.org/services