What Parents Say

Bella was born at 30 weeks weighing only 2lb 14oz. During her stay in special care, we were told that she had two small cysts on her brain that may lead to physical difficulties. At 2 years old she was diagnosed with Bilateral Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy which affects her from her waist down.

We were introduced to Bumblebees by our physiotherapist. Bella attends Bumblebees with her Grandma every week and loves joining in with all the activities and seeing her friends and staff. Bumblebees have helped Bella with her physical needs as well as teaching us how best to help her at home and giving us lots of support and advice when needed. Bella has progressed so much in the short space of time she’s been attending the sessions and we are looking forward to seeing what she can achieve next. Bumblebees are a hive of information and we would be lost without their support and kindness.

The Bumblebee children’s charity has been a crucial part of Leos journey. They are a beam of light when life was looking pretty grey. We joined Bumblebees around a year ago when Leo was still unable to sit up unattended and barely able to hold himself due to his low muscle tone. We both look forward to Wednesday afternoons where we feel included amd part of something special. Every week the support we have is incredible. Leo struggles with transition from car to place or moving room to room and when we arrive, they always make sure Leo is settled and comfortable. Leo has made so many friends and so have I, to meet and chat to other parents in a similar situation is very important to our mental health. Leo loves the exercises and songs we do and is now joining in with the all the actions the best he can with his hands. When we first arrived I could only dream of Leo being able to join in with the movements and understanding the songs. The staff spend quality time with each child independently and support each of their needs. Over the last year they have helped Leo sit independently, Crawl, Pulling up, walking in his frame and now taking a few steps on his own!! Which is something we thought we would never see. Leo took his first steps at Bumblebees with the team and I will be forever grateful to them and they teach me how best to support Leo with his movements. Come September when Leo starts his Special School, he will thrive because of the help and support of Bumblebees and they will forever be in our hearts for all Leos achieved because of them.

Max is 3.5years old and was diagnosed during pregnancy at 20 weeks with Down Syndrome, at 3 years he was also diagnosed with a mild – moderate learning disability, he also has Nystagmus in both eyes as well as one eye long sighted and the other short sighted.

Max started Bumblebees when he was 1 years old, at the time of starting Max was unable to sit up unaided, he found it difficult  to clasp objects and was yet not moving around (crawling or cruising).

Bumblebees has been excellent support on moving forward Max’s physical development as well as language and concentration skills, Bumblebees is definitely the source of Max’s great love of jumping! Bumblebees continuously assesses the children to ensure they are in the correct group for their development to ensure the sessions are tailored to the correct level required – as well as ensuring the children are attending sessions alongside peers who are generally the same development stages to support socialising skills as well.
Bumblebees has provided many exercises and strategies to use at home to promote development, Bumblebees staff also use a variety of Makaton signs during sessions which Max, and myself, picks up and takes away from the session. Max used to not enjoy sitting down and doing the table exercises but Max has now built up to sitting at the table for around 2-4minutes to do colouring, painting and crafts something that 6months ago wouldn’t have happened.
In regards to support to families Bumblebees is a very open and welcoming environment, you know when you walk in if you have had a hard morning they will pick this up and they will give the parent more support that day whether this is doing the exercises with your child or offering you a cup of tea. The staff will pick up when parents are talking about a subject that may need a bit of extra time to chat about, they will offer to continue the work with the children in the other room and let the parents have time to discuss the topic in the first room – this is always appreciated.

Overall Bumblebees is a huge part of our lives, it brings us support and friendship in a variety of different ways.

Hayley and Max