We are pleased to announce that our vital Family Liaison service has secured funding to ensure that it can continue its vital role in the Gwent community.

Sparkle works with hundreds of children and young people with disabilities and developmental difficulties to enable them to to participate in activities to give them the same range of opportunities, life experiences and community involvement as any other child.

We also work with our families to ensure they can access the support and resources they need to allow their child to thrive. 

Our Family Liaison Service is the first point of contact for all families, offering guidance and support both in person and remotely, and we work closely with the local authority, as well as organisations working in the health, education, sport and voluntary sectors.

Research around the impact of the service has revealed its essential role in family support, with parents describing it as "huge comfort" which enables them to feel "less alone" and they know where to turn to "when it all gets too much."

Now, we have secured funding from law firm Slater and Gordon to sponsor our Family Liaison Service, based at Serennu Children's Centre.

This essential funding will ensure the charity can continue to deliver a life-changing impact to families.

The partnership will also see the law firm delivering legal clinics to Sparkle families, to support them in understanding their legal rights in areas including clinical negligence, education law, employment and family law.

"Families can sometimes wait years to find someone to give them the help they need, and the impact of this service is demonstrated through research, which shows how vital our family liaison team is," says Rebecca Tyrrell, head of operations at Sparkle. 

"Funding for the service was not garaunteed, and it is unthinkable we would not be able to deliver this service - so we are very grateful to Slater and Gordon for being able to sponsor these roles. 

"We look forward to working with the team to deliver even more support to our families."

Kelly Lloyd Davies, principle lawyer at Slater and Gordon in Cardiff, adds: "Sparkle is a fantastic charity which makes an immense impact on the lives of families across Gwent, who often feel isolated  and alone prior to receiving the support they so badly need. 

"The Family Liaison Service is hugely valued by families for its ability to engage with them and respond to their unique needs. 

"We are very pleased to be able to support this and to safeguard the vital role it plays in the community. 

"Our team at Slater and Gordon is really looking forward to working with Sparkle and its families to support them in every way possible."