On Saturday 24th October, we held a very special Halloween party at Stourport Sports Club for the wonderful children and families who attend our weekly SEN support group sessions at the Nigel Prosser Foundation.
We wanted to put on something a little different for our families, completely free of charge, as our way of saying a huge thank you for their continued support, for coming along to our sessions each week and, most importantly, for believing in us and the work we’re doing.
And what a lovely evening it turned out to be!
For us, this was about so much more than just throwing a Halloween party.
Many of the families we support don’t usually get to enjoy things like Halloween parties because, unfortunately, traditional events aren’t always suitable or understanding of children with additional needs.
Something that might seem like a simple family outing to others can actually be really difficult for some of our families, whether that’s because of sensory needs, busy environments or simply the worry of their child being judged or misunderstood.
That’s why we wanted to create an evening where everyone could come along, feel comfortable and just enjoy themselves.
No judgement, no pressure and no worrying about what anyone else might think. Just children being children, parents and carers having a chance to relax, and families making lovely memories together.
And seeing everyone enjoying themselves really did make all the hard work worthwhile.
Lots of Halloween Fun at the Halloween Party
We had a fantastic evening filled with Halloween decorations, plenty of food and cakes, Halloween treats and, of course, a bouncy castle which was a massive hit with the children!
We also had some lovely Halloween goodie bags for the children to take home, filled with goodies that had been very kindly donated.
It was so nice to see the children having fun, the adults enjoying themselves and families spending time together in an environment where they knew they were surrounded by people who understood them.
Some of our families don’t often get the opportunity to enjoy events like this, so being able to give them that experience meant an awful lot to us.
It’s evenings like these that remind us exactly why we do what we do.
It went down a treat
Claire said:
Was so gutted that could never find club which I trusted to meet livi needs , Nigel Prosser Foundation came along and not only was she accepted but I also made most amazing friends! Stood and watched tonight the most beautiful children come together have best time! They celebrated Halloween and was fab party! Seeing livi with biggest smile on her face – she didn’t stop laughing and loved the alien invasion! Hocus pocus ladies were naughty in fab way and children loved them , food was yummy (deffo a cheat day) stood back looked around and felt so grateful to everyone! No judgement just love and it’s best feeling ever! Thank you so much and seeing livi walk over to Sue and say the words thank you oh my days had tears in my eyes x
Jenni said:
We’ve never been to a Halloween party before, the ones we see are too expensive and then add the word “SEN” and the price doubles. When I’m not even sure if he’ll stay or join it or become too overwhelmed it just puts me off. But the Nigel prosser one was different, it didn’t matter if he didn’t join in the activities, he could safely watch from the side while doing his own thing. There was no judgement or pressure and he must have felt that too because at the end of the night he went and helped himself to pizza which was huge for him. One for the fact he had something that wasn’t his chicken crisps but then also the fact he chose food, he ate where there was stuff giving on and he even went back. That party meant so much to us, the entertainment was magical, the bouncy castle was so much fun, the food was delicious and the extra treats and little gifts too. It was just the best time and I’m so glad we got to experience it. Thank you so much
Charli said:
We are so grateful for the NPF Halloween party. My son is rarely able to attend parties without huge amounts of distress, but due to regular attendance at the groups and familiarity with the parents we don’t have anxiety about being judged when he starts to escalate and it helps us in being able to focus on him (and apologise to them later). This is an experience something that words can’t even begin to accurately depict; a burden is lifted but a burden that eases so many other areas of life. This is the only Halloween event for children we have been able to attend (we have visited a pumpkin patch but not engaged in any Halloween activities). Everything else has been at home, isolated with us, as a family. Not only did he stay longer than we could have imagined, but he calmly said he was done and would like to go home now (about 10 minutes from the end). Which is unheard of for events like this. It was nice to see him experiencing an inclusive version of “normal” and really engage with it. If NPF social group nights didnt exist, we wouldn’t have been able to build up to a party like this. And if NPF didn’t have a a Halloween party he would not have attended a social activity for Halloween.
A HUGE thank you to some very special people!
We honestly couldn’t have made the evening as special as it was without the kindness and generosity of some absolutely amazing organisations and individuals.
We want to give them all a proper shout-out because they really do deserve it!
Akela Future Living (AFL)
A massive thank you to Akela Future Living for donating a fantastic selection of snacks for our buffet table!
Your generosity helped us put on a lovely spread for everyone to enjoy, and we really appreciate your kindness and support.
Mikes Sensorys
A huge thank you to Mikes Sensorys for donating Halloween toys, face paints and glow sticks!
We used these lovely donations to make up special Halloween goodie bags for the children to take home.
It was so nice to be able to give the children a little something extra to remember the evening by, and we couldn’t have done that without your help. Thank you so much!
Greggs
Another massive thank you goes to Greggs for their incredibly generous food donation!
There was plenty of delicious food for everyone to tuck into, and it really helped us make sure all our families were well fed throughout the party.
We are so grateful for your support!
Rays Bakehouse
WOW… those cakes!!
A huge thank you to Rays Bakehouse for donating some absolutely gorgeous boxes of cakes for our party.
They went down an absolute treat with both the children and adults and were pretty much demolished!
Thank you so much for your generosity. They were delicious!
Angling for Autism
We also want to say an extra special thank you to our wonderful continued supporters at Angling for Autism.
These lovely people have already done so much for the Nigel Prosser Foundation through their fundraising efforts at their fishing events, and once again they’ve gone above and beyond to help us.
A very special mention has to go to Steve, who took the time to arrange the generous donations from Greggs and Rays Bakehouse and then came along to deliver everything for our Halloween party.
Steve, we honestly can’t thank you enough.
You’ve shown us so much kindness and support, and it really does mean the world to us that you continue to believe in what we’re doing and want to help us make a difference to our families.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
A very kind-hearted SEN parent
We also want to give a little shout-out to one of our lovely SEN parent who attends our weekly support group sessions.
This incredibly generous parent very kindly paid for the bouncy castle at our Halloween party, and as you can imagine, the children absolutely loved it!
They’ve asked to remain anonymous, which of course we completely respect, but we couldn’t let such a lovely gesture go without saying thank you.
It really was such a kind thing to do, and seeing how much fun the children had on the bouncy castle made it even more special.
You know who you are, and we hope you know just how much we appreciate what you did.
And last, but definitely not least, Kerry!
Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to join us for the party, but she very kindly let us borrow her very impressive collection of Halloween decorations to help bring the whole evening to life.
And what a difference they made! we’re so grateful that she was able to help us make the venue look so fantastic.
Thank you so much, Kerry!
Why evenings like the Halloween Party mean so much to us
When we first decided to organise this party, we just wanted to do something nice for our families to show them how much we appreciate their support.
But seeing everyone together on the night really brought home just how important events like this are.
For many of the families who come to our weekly sessions, finding somewhere they can take their children without worrying about being judged or misunderstood isn’t always easy.
Some parents avoid certain events altogether because they’ve had difficult experiences in the past, or because they know the environment might be too overwhelming for their child.
And that’s genuinely heart-breaking, because every child deserves to have fun, enjoy celebrations and make special memories, regardless of their additional needs.
So being able to bring our families together for an evening where everyone could just be themselves was really lovely.
Nobody needed to explain their child’s needs. Nobody had to worry about whether their child was behaving differently to anyone else. Everyone was welcome, exactly as they were.
And that’s what we want the Nigel Prosser Foundation to be about.
A place where families feel understood, supported, included and, most importantly, where they feel they belong.
To our wonderful families… Thank you!
We also want to say a massive thank you to every single family who attends our weekly SEN support group sessions.
Thank you for coming along each week, for supporting us, for supporting each other and for continuing to believe in the work we’re doing at the Nigel Prosser Foundation.
We know that life can be challenging for families raising children with additional needs, and we never take it for granted that you choose to spend your time with us.
We’ve seen some lovely friendships develop through our sessions, both between the children and between parents and carers, and that’s something we’re really proud of.
Our Halloween party was just a little way of giving something back to you all, because you really do deserve it.
We hope you all had as much fun as we did, and that you went home with some lovely memories.
