Impact – Children Ahead

We Transform The Life Trajectory of all the children we come into contact with.

They become:

But our impact is much broader than that. When you get involved with Children Ahead you are part of that impact.

Impact families

Families are at the heart of our work. They are the key players in developing and ensuring children’s health and wellbeing.

When a child struggles with emotional or learning difficulties, the entire family is affected in multiple and challenging ways. When the right support is put in place, and parents are empowered to lead on their child’s development journey, everyone benefits.

Benny is so much calmer; less explosive. We are no longer walking on eggshells around him and our entire home is transformed. We can all breathe. And relax. Thank you, you saved our family!

Benny's father

Me and my occupational therapist made a ‘sensory diet’ together. I used to scream and cry and throw things at my sisters ‘cause everything was too much for me. My ‘diet’ makes me so happy because I’m not ‘losing it’ anymore.

Libby, age 8

Exams meant that I was stressed out and really snappy at my family and friends. Now, Shoshana gave me and my mum some ideas of how to help me relax and stay calm before exams. It’s helped me a lot.

Sarah, age 12

I was always tripping and breaking things, and my brothers would get so annoyed with me, calling me ‘humpty dumpty’. Now, I’ve done exercises, and my brothers let me join their game.

Araon, age 5

I no longer feel that Rachel is tense around her twin sister. She has learnt how to manage her feelings and express her wants and needs to us in an appropriate manner.

Rachel's mother

Impact schools

Children spend over 1,000 hours a year at school, on average. For those who struggle with learning, emotional or social difficulties, every hour can be fraught.

Through our work in training, guiding and supporting school staff to create tailored packages of intervention for children with additional needs, school becomes a haven. It is the place where every child can thrive and become their very best self.

We were privileged to have numerous boys attend the Talking Together project, some who have made tremendous progress beyond our expectations. It has enabled others to blossom and reach new levels in ways we never hoped for them to achieve.

SENCO of local school

Our daily struggle getting Shani to school was utterly draining. She’d tantrum before she left and as she entered school. Now, that same child waves good bye and joins her friends as they walk to school. It’s incredible.

Shani's Mum

My student was struggling with math so I used the stages of Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) to explain it to her. Thank you Children Ahead for teaching me this technique.

Freeda, Learning Assistant

Children Ahead trained me to set measurable therapy targets for struggling students so that I can be accountable and quantify their achievements.

Mr Freeman, SENCO

Naomi was always a class bystander, listening but not participating. Naomi now raises her hand in class, and her thoughts add so much to the class discussion.

Naomi's teacher

Eli can now focus through the entire lesson, which not only builds his academic performance but allows him to be part of the class learning.

Eli's teacher

Impact communities

It takes a village to raise a child, and community attitudes towards learning difficulties and mental health directly correlate with help-seeking patterns in community members.

Our continued awareness-raising about learning difficulties and mental health problems is slowly shifting the narrative around accessing professional support, lowering stigma and resulting in more openness and acceptance

Ben’s father.

Impact the public sector

The public sector commission services to meet the needs of local residents. Through over a decade advocacy and partnership, statutory partners now have a much broader awareness of the needs of Orthodox Jewish children and the barriers that prevent them from accessing mainstream provision.

The Talking Together programme has been groundbreaking as it reached children previously excluded from speech and an excellent model of collaboration co-production and helped build community trust in statutory services.

The proof is in the points

GO system, our 5-point rating method means there’s no guessing when it comes to tracking the impact of our work.

94% of children show improvement of at least 2 points in at least 2 targets over a 12 week block of intervention.

The Child: 

David has been struggling socially and academically in school for a while now. He is withdrawn and struggles to communicate his needs.

The Concern: 

The assessing therapist identified 3 areas of concern:

The Children Ahead Impact:

David progressed substantially in therapy and is a much happier child. He’s learnt strategies for word-finding and communication, and skills to identify his own and others’ emotions. His mother reports that he no longer tantrums before school and is so much calmer.

The Child: 

Gabriella was a usually-happy child. Then Mom had Covid and was oxygenated, followed by an extended and challenging recovery.

The Concern: 

Gabriella’s family and teachers were concerned after she became moody and uninterested in other people or her schoolwork.

The Children Ahead Impact:

Through play therapy, Gabriella was able to process her trauma and fears, and learn mindfulness techniques to ground herself when anxiety arose once again. Gabriella says she now feels ‘..lighter and happier. Important to the people around me’.

The Child: 

Leah has a complex family history. Her biological parents were unable to care for her as a baby, and she lives with foster parents.

The Concern: 

Leah was struggling socially, making inappropriate noises and obsessively stating her wish to ‘be a baby’.

The Children Ahead Impact:

Working with her psychotherapist, Leah was able to use expressive play and EMDR to release her emotions and pent up distress, and experiment with new ways to meet her needs. Her family describe her as a ‘different child’, and the school say she is now seen as a ‘regular girl’ by her peers.

We Transform The Life Trajectory of all the children we come into contact with.

Impact families

When a child struggles with emotional or learning difficulties, the entire family is affected in multiple and challenging ways. When the right support is put in place, and parents are empowered to lead on their child’s development journey, everyone benefits.

Benny is so much calmer; less explosive. We are no longer walking on eggshells around him and our entire home is transformed. We can all breathe. And relax. Thank you, you saved our family!

Benny's father

Me and my occupational therapist made a ‘sensory diet’ together. I used to scream and cry and throw things at my sisters ‘cause everything was too much for me. My ‘diet’ makes me so happy because I’m not ‘losing it’ anymore.

Libby, age 8

Exams meant that I was stressed out and really snappy at my family and friends. Now, Shoshana gave me and my mum some ideas of how to help me relax and stay calm before exams. It’s helped me a lot.

Sarah, age 12

I was always tripping and breaking things, and my brothers would get so annoyed with me, calling me ‘humpty dumpty’. Now, I’ve done exercises, and my brothers let me join their game.

Araon, age 5

I no longer feel that Rachel is tense around her twin sister. She has learnt how to manage her feelings and express her wants and needs to us in an appropriate manner.

Rachel's mother

Impact schools

We were privileged to have numerous boys attend the Talking Together project, some who have made tremendous progress beyond our expectations. It has enabled others to blossom and reach new levels in ways we never hoped for them to achieve.

SENCO of local school

Our daily struggle getting Shani to school was utterly draining. She’d tantrum before she left and as she entered school. Now, that same child waves good bye and joins her friends as they walk to school. It’s incredible.

Shani's Mum

My student was struggling with math so I used the stages of Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) to explain it to her. Thank you Children Ahead for teaching me this technique.

Freeda, Learning Assistant

Children Ahead trained me to set measurable therapy targets for struggling students so that I can be accountable and quantify their achievements.

Mr Freeman, SENCO

Naomi was always a class bystander, listening but not participating. Naomi now raises her hand in class, and her thoughts add so much to the class discussion.

Naomi's teacher

Eli can now focus through the entire lesson, which not only builds his academic performance but allows him to be part of the class learning.

Eli's teacher

Impact communities

Ben’s father.

Ben’s father.

Ben’s father.

Ben’s father.

Ben’s father.

My daughter struggled with mental-health issues. Initially we kept it under wraps, but through Children Ahead, the whole family has developed mental-health awareness and we share our journey with others to lend support.

Mr. R.S

My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD. Children Ahead showed me a variety of books and equipment that I could borrow from their resource room to build my skills and help my daughter at home. I feel resourceful being able to help my daughter independently.

Mrs L.G

Since COVID and the cost-of-living crisis, our hotline has seen a 45% increase in calls regarding mental health. People who suffer from anxiety now have where to turn to.

Children Ahead receptionist

Coming to Children Ahead each week for the ASD support group is validating and strengthening. It allows me to cope better with my autistic son and to be a support for others.

Mrs F.M

The proof is in the points

GO system, our 5-point rating method means there’s no guessing when it comes to tracking the impact of our work.

94% of children show improvement of at least 2 points in at least 2 targets over a 12 week block of intervention.

The Child:

The Concern:

The Children Ahead Impact:

The Child:

The Concern:

Gabriella’s family and teachers were concerned after she became moody and uninterested in other people or her schoolwork.

The Children Ahead Impact:

The Child:

The Concern:

Leah was struggling socially, making inappropriate noises and obsessively stating her wish to ‘be a baby’.

The Children Ahead Impact:

Working with her psychotherapist, Leah was able to use expressive play and EMDR to release her emotions and pent up distress, and experiment with new ways to meet her needs. Her family describe her as a ‘different child’, and the school say she is now seen as a ‘regular girl’ by her peers.

The Child: 

The Concern: 

The Child: 

The Concern: 

The Child: 

The Concern: 