About Us
DARE is a dedicated organization based in Grove Park, Kingsbury in Brent, London. We are focused on providing inclusive play programs specifically tailored for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). Operating during weekends and holiday periods, our playscheme offers a supportive, adaptive environment where children can engage in meaningful play, develop social skills, and enhance emotional resilience through specially designed activities and expert care.
Our services can be accessed by children and young people from Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow and Hillingdon Local Authorities. We are open to all other boroughs as well.
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a safe, inclusive, and nurturing playscheme that empowers children with special education needs and disabilities to enjoy enriching play experiences, build confidence, foster social connections, and support their holistic development.
We offer a small-group sessions led by experienced special needs staffs trained in adaptive communication and sensory development. Our inclusive programs focus on emotional resilience, social skills, and physical activities in a fully accessible facility, ensuring every child receives the attention and support required to flourish.
Our Partners
Inclusion
DARE believes it can make inclusion work; it is a journey and no one day will be the same as the next. It takes a holistic approach with everyone pulling together with determination, imagination and creative thinking to ensure that our clients can play and take part in things others may take for granted. As stated in our motto, we think of each child as a unique individual, we model our services to meet the individual needs whilst ensuring it fits around our key values and ethos. At DARE we do not run a one size fits all services.
- At all times we try to ensure that attitudes and behaviour of practitioners, children and parents demonstrate that our clients are part of a wide cross-section of the local community.
- All our activities are led by the interests and enthusiasms of each client who attends and take place with regard to any likes, dislikes and specific needs each client may have
- Everyone is welcomed on arrival and wished well on departure in a way that suits them
- Our pictures, equipment and resources reflect our clients lives as part of a wide representation of children’s differing backgrounds and experience
- We are committed to the active participation of children, parents/carers, team members and others to ensure good quality provision and to ensure each individual’s needs are met
- We are made time to build links with families/school/services for disabled children by becoming directly involved with them as part of a commitment to give all local children and families a genuine choice to be part of the service
- All our staff have had attitudinal training around disability and other equality issues and continue to take part in training about inclusion
- Our sessions are held in accessible, stimulating, user friendly environments, including wheelchair access, lifts, low arousal and calm areas.
- All our staff have or are developing necessary skills to communicate effectively with each child, and encourage all children to develop ways of communicating with each other, including use of Makaton and PECs
- Each client has opportunities for formal and informal consultation so that they can express their views and opinions on sessions they take part in and on the setting, using whatever communication methods they choose
- Each parent/carer feels welcome and valued as an expert on their child, with a continuing key role in helping practitioners enable their child to take a full part in the setting
- The DARE setting has a vision of what it wants to do; policies and procedures for how it does it; and a process of monitoring and evaluation to see how well it is doing. This includes all who are involved in the setting in a process of continuing reflection on the development.