How we spend your money
“You will never know what IPSEA’s support meant to me.”
IPSEA offers a unique, free service to parents who need support. Last year, with IPSEA’s help, over 2,000 children maximised their potential by receiving the special education to which they are entitled.
The SEN system is very complex . The majority of parents need help with the overwhelming volume of paperwork that securing their child’s support entails. Most cannot afford to pay thousands of pounds for a solicitor to handle their case.
“Thank you IPSEA for the wonderful help and care so generously given recently for our child’s SEN tribunal.”
IPSEA is a volunteer based charity. A small team of part time staff work from a modest office to support our volunteers. We currently have 100 fully trained volunteers advising families across England and Wales. They provide the legally based advice that parents struggling with the SEN system need – free of charge.
Much of our support goes to low income and otherwise disadvantaged parents. 25% of the families we help have a household income below £20,000 a year . 12% of the parents we help are from Black and minority ethnic communities. We offer more support to the families who are not well equipped to argue their case. We advise families regardless of their child’s type of SEN / disability.
IPSEA volunteers may support parents by writing letters or preparing for meetings. Some volunteers help parents appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Help from one of our volunteer advisers typically brings a child £3,000 a year in extra resources . This is ten times what we spend on the average case, so your help goes a long way.
“Nothing was too much trouble for our IPSEA volunteer adviser. He followed our case through very professionally”
Please help IPSEA improve the life chances of thousands more children with SEN / disability by supporting our work . Their struggle is often unheard but IPSEA gives them a voice. We would appreciate any help you can offer us. See our case studies for examples of the difference our help can make.