Swindon SEND Families Voice

06/03/2026

Sharing on behalf of the SEND Travel Team: Temporary Personal Travel Budget (PTB) during transport disruption.

If your child or young person currently receives travel assistance in the form of a seat on contracted transport, and that transport is temporarily cancelled due to staffing shortages, you may be eligible to claim a temporary Personal Travel Budget (PTB).

This arrangement ensures that:
your child’s allocated seat on transport will not be lost
the temporary PTB will provide financial support to help you make alternative travel arrangements during the disruption
once contracted transport is reinstated, the temporary PTB will be paused, and your child’s original transport provision will resume automatically.

We understand that disruptions can be challenging for families. This process is designed to provide short-term flexibility while maintaining your child’s long-term transport arrangements.

If you would like further information about temporary PTBs, or need support during a disruption, contact the Travel Team on 01793 464165 or email travelnorth@swindon.gov.uk

06/03/2026

Next week, we are running our SEND Stay and Play on Thursday morning at The Meadow.

We also have our SEND Social Club on Thursday evening at the Punjabi Community Centre.

04/03/2026

Swindon SEND Families Voice would like to share the following comms from Swindon Borough CouncilTravel team;

Children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) may qualify for free or supplemented travel assistance to and from school or college.

Children transitioning to Reception, Junior or Secondary school in September 2026 can apply for travel assistance after 15 February 2026. Post 16 children can apply after 31 March 2026 when their placements are known.

If an application is received after 1 July, they will process all applications received however, they cannot guarantee transport will be in place by the start of term.

Please click below to apply online using the form;
https://www.swindon.gov.uk/xfp/form/962

You must re-apply when:
your child or young person is moving schools
your child or young person turns age 8 as the criteria for transport changes
your child or young person turns age 16 and then ANNUALLY thereafter
applications for SEND students aged between 19 and 24 years of age for travel assistance will be considered on an individual basis for a first course of study. This is for students with the most severe disabilities with no other means of transportation.
you have been allocated travel through an appeal process (reapplication is required annually)
you are in receipt of a Personal Travel Budget (PTB) and wish for another for the academic year (reapplication is required annually)
you have been issued with travel assistance without an EHCP/Mainstream application (reapplication is required annually)
your child or young person moves house at any point in the year

Make reports, request council services and pay online at your convenience, without having to phone or visit. Use the search bar or links to quickly get to the page you need.

04/03/2026

Thank you to everyone who has emailed to book onto our SEND Event.
We still have a couple of parents to reply to today.

But we have no more spaces.

03/03/2026

Swindon SEND Families Voice have just released their March E‑Bulletin, packed with updates, opportunities, and useful information for SEND families and professionals.

Link to the Ebulletin is below;
https://tinyurl.com/3wzcajdh

If you are not already signed up to our mailing list, you can join using the link below;
https://swindonsendfamiliesvoice.org.uk/mailing-list.../
Please do share it with anyone who may benefit, the more families we reach, the stronger our SEND community becomes.

Check out this A4 designed by Swindon SEND Families Voice.

03/03/2026

Swindon SEND Families Voice would like to share the following comms on behalf of NDTi who are working with Swindon Borough Council to improve Direct Payments;

We are the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi), working with Swindon Borough Council for working with Adults to rethink and improve the Direct Payments offer in Swindon.

We want to do this with the people who use Direct Payments. Your experiences and ideas can genuinely help reshape how things work in the future.

We are setting up a simple WhatsApp group where you can share quick thoughts through short yes/no polls every few days — nothing heavy, just an easy way to influence what happens next.

Would you like to be part of helping us shape the future of Direct Payments in Swindon? If so. Join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JRzxbT1K4e8Dg075dxS3as”

02/03/2026

Swindon Carers Together is the new name for Swindon Carers Centre, offering support to unpaid carers. Please follow them on Facebook and register to attend their events.

swindoncarerstogether.org.uk
hello@swindoncarerstogether.org.uk

Here’s what we have coming up in March! To book a place at any of the events below, email events@swindoncarerstogether.org.uk.

Please note, you must be a registered carer with Swindon Carers Together to attend our activities.

02/03/2026

Swindon SEND Families Voice have organised an evening event for SEND children aged 9-14 years old.

We have exclusively hired The Link Centre Trampoline Park. This will be on Saturday 21st March 5pm-7pm. All details are on the poster below.

Please note, places are limited, so it is essential to book! Please email swindonsendfamiliesvoice@outlook.com. We will need to know how many children, their names, their date of birth, a contact number for parents and if they have any dietary requirements.

Food will be included. It will be a mix of Cheese Pizza and Pepperoni Pizza. The café will be open if anyone wants to purchases drinks or snacks.

02/03/2026

At the end of March, we will be hosting 2 ADHD sessions with Becky Richens. Both sessions will be the same talk, so parents/carers only need to attend one.

We will be doing a day time session and an evening online session to try and reach as many parents/carers as possible.

Becky has also put a form together, as she can tailor the sessions towards the people who will be attending. So if there is anything in particular you would like to know, please complete the form below and mention which session you would like to attend.

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=0x2qneKumE-iGquIHOMuvXt-Gg5oM8FJnVT_gZT6Ut5UNklNREhIMzdUUEo5WEY2VzROTUxEVFdLSi4u&route=shorturl

Link for the Wednesday evening talk: https://teams.live.com/meet/9335352567184?p=DjHVYfl0cydr5YDOqN

For more information please use the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/beckyrichensnurse

27/02/2026

Swindon SEND Families Voice will be holding their next breakfast catch-up on Tuesday 24th March at the Toby Carvery.

An informal get together for all parents/carers - come along, relax over a cuppa/breakfast and chat with others.

To book a place please email swindonsendfamiliesvoice@outlook.com

27/02/2026

Kirk Anderson has finished his visits to our PINS 2 schools, doing his talk on Understanding Challenging Behaviours.

However, after the schools have fed back that a lot of parents and carers have been unable to attend during the day due to work commitments, we have decided to do another community event.

Kirk will be doing his talk on Monday 16th March at 6.30pm online.

The meeting code is on the poster but here is the link as well: https://teams.live.com/meet/9349462319349?p=LdNQspopnc8snA4vcB