Ingfield Manor School

Ingfield Manor School for Ceribral palsy

Ten years ago my best friend Tony passed away, leaving behind two wonderful Daughters, Sam, Suzanne & three Grandchildren, one of the children being Alfie who suffers with Ceribral palsy.

Alfie is schooled at Ingfield Manor, a school that specialises in special needs children.

Just before Tony passed away he was told that due to local costings etc, Alfie may have to change schools & be transfered to a state school, knowing how much Alfie was improving at Ingfield, Tony decided he would try & set up a charity to finance Alfie to stay at Ingfield, but unfortunately that did not happen due to his sudden death.

 Amazingly two weeks later a miracle happened & Alfie was accepted to stay on to continue with his education. Tony's Prayers were answered.

One day I was talking to Sam & she said one of her Dad's wishes was to have spent the day at Alfie's school to see how he was getting on, but never got that opportunity.

I asked if it would be possible for me to go & she said yes, a week later she picked me up & off we went to Ingfield Manor.

On arrival I was introduced to several of the care workers who provided coffee & a brief chat on what they do for the children, it was a really warm welcome & the atmosphere was so positive. 

There were other Mum's there with their children who had various degrees of the illness, it was wonderful to hear the progress many of them had made, which would not have been possible without the help of these extreamly experienced carers.

I was then shown into a small observation room with a two way mirror which enabled me to see out & listen to what was going on in the playroom . I settled down while the three Mums & their children got settled at these special made desks.

On this occasion each child had a carer & to watch them work with these kids was just amazing, singing, dancing & lots of laughter was the main basis to communicating with them, but as the morning went on I  started to observe the frustration of the Mothers as they so wanted their child to perform a simple task, like just being able to pick up a pencil or an object, a simple task that we all take for granted & to jointly see the same frustration in the child as they wanted to please their Mum.

I will be totally honest with you, the tears were running down my face as I felt for them all, but thankful to have been able to spend some precious time with them.

You would not believe how difficult it is for these Mothers, they are such a tower of strength to endure all the pain & suffering that goes with a Ceribral Palsy child.

The most saddest thing is,  these sufferers are as normal as you & I & have the same level of intelligence.

It is just that their brain is not able to communicate with the body, so next time you see a Mum, Dad & their  child out, stop to say high to them, because believe me they need as much love & support as you can give them.

This is a Charitable organisation.

Why can our Government not finance these much needed Schools for all of the UK sufferers?