A charity that promotes accessibility across the north-east has received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – a year after they were honoured with it.
We Too empowers parents and carers of children with additional support needs, and last year their efforts were recognised when they were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
However, due to lockdown the group was unable to receive their award at the time.
Yesterday,, the group hired a screen at Cineworld in Union Square for a private showing to thank volunteers, otherwise known as Ninjas, for their help with the Summer of Play programme.
Lord Provost Barney Crockett made a surprise appearance to present the award, and revealed the parent-led organisation was the youngest to ever receive the accolade.
He said: “I have presented a lot of awards in my time as lord provost, but none of them have made me prouder or happier than to give this award to We Too.”
Mike Melvin, volunteering services manager from ACVO, was also there to honour four young volunteers with their Saltire Awards.
He said: “The other awards we’ve got today are very special, because volunteers are the heart of We Too and young people are a key part of that. These awards from the Scottish Government recognise the great work the volunteers of We Too do.”
Phionna McInnes, who describes herself as the “Chief Ninja”, founded We Too alongside her son Declan, who has autism and ADHD.
She said: “The bit I’m most proud of is that we’re the youngest organisation to have received it, that blew me away.
“I’m so glad we’re able to do this, We Too is such a tiny organisation. So many say ‘without our volunteers we’re nothing’ but actually without our volunteers we really are nothing. Our staff pool is two of us, me and another lady and we’re both additional support needs parents.”
WeToo!
The charity was founded in 2015 when Ms McInnes became frustrated at the “fragmented” information available for parents and carers of children with additional support needs.
She then created a magazine with information and signposting suitable activities under the name Me Too which was coined by Declan.
Ms McInnes, who is hearing impaired, explained: “My little boy is the founder and when I was taking my older child to activities he would say ‘what about me too, mum? Where are you going to take me where people won’t stare and you wont cry?’”
In 2019 the charity decided to rebrand to distance itself from the #MeToo movement, and, again it was Ms McInnes’ son who suggested the name WeToo which reflected on the community.
We Too is widely recognised as the leading organisation of “relaxed sessions” in the area. These sessions make events and activities accessible to people who may otherwise find it challenging due to sensory considerations.
One such event is the annual Not So Spooky Halloween party.
Victoria Chamberlain, trustee for We Too, said: “It’s not just for children with additional support needs, you can come to a relaxed session if you’ve never been before. It’s for anybody who has that need for a relaxed session, whether its dementia member or just an older member of the community, it’s not just for kids, it can be for anyone. Obviously our prime focus is the kids.
“Phionna in particular, works with lots of different organisations across town so she goes in and trains staff on what to look for, on sensory things, so you can see when a child’s becoming overloaded it’s not a behaviour-driven thing it’s a sensory-loaded thing.”
The Summer of Play
Money was provided to each local authority by the Scottish Government for the Summer of Play.
Aberdeen City Council provided a programme of activities for youngsters this summer holiday to enable them to reconnect with friends and family while being active outdoors.
We Too was asked to become involved after it was highlighted that there were only events offered for mainstream children or those with severe and complex needs, which is described as targeted.
Because of We Too’s involvement, Aberdeen was the only local authority to make the Summer of Play accessible to all children of all needs.