Volunteers wanted for Nippers with special needs

Killcare Surf Life Saving Club is looking for volunteers to run a Nippers' inclusion program for children with special needs in the 2017-18 season.

"The inclusion program is a four to six week nippers program for kids with extra needs," said committee member Mr Craig Sheppard.

"That could cover autism spectrum, vision impairment, all sorts of things that often limit what these kids can get involved in," he said.

"And it's not just the kids; caring for them is something most of us can't imagine and that can leave their parents comparatively socially isolated.

"The impact of this program on the kids, the parents, the volunteers and the club can't be overstated.

"The push to expand the program across the Coast depends members' generosity.

"It's a 1:1 situation where a Bronze or SRC is teamed with one of the kids for the course of the program which runs in conjunction with regular nippers, although starting a little earlier or later simply because some of the kids can get overwhelmed by crowds and noise.

"Running for one to one-and-a-half hours, they go through similar activities to 'regular' nippers with appropriate modifications.

"We'd would really love to get this up at Killcare and need some BM/SRC's to help on the day.

"Consistency with these kids is key, so you'd need to be able to commit (as best you can) to the whole program.

"There are continual imposts on your time. We're all volunteers and we're always asking for more.

"We get that, but this one is pretty important.

"There'd be some training involved in how to relate to the kids and they're matched to volunteers pretty carefully and of course the parents, as experts in the behaviours and needs, are heavily involved.

"The number of volunteers is the number of kids we can accommodate," he said.

SOURCES:

Newsletter, 5 May 2017

Craig Sheppard, Killcare SLSC