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Milton Keynes Council: WALNUTS CHILDRENS HOME: SAVE OUR HOME
Rebecca B.
started this petition to
Milton Keynes Council
Milton Keynes Council have started a consultation, which proposes the closure of The Walnuts Children’s Home.
The consultation paper has been written in a very persuasive way and doesn’t truly explain the impact that closing the home will have on the children, and the families of the children that currently live in the home. It is biased and doesn’t enable people to make an informed choice.
The children that live in the home are not the first and certainly won’t be the last in Milton Keynes who will need this service. Statistically more and more people are being diagnosed with Autism. This cannot be ignored. People often believe that if you have seen one child with Autism you have seen them all. This could not be further from the truth.
The children in the home have very complex needs, some are non verbal, they cannot read or write, some have epilepsy, most have severe anxiety and often they can become extremely frustrated and violent. There has been talk of moving the children out of county. This means that not only would each child need to be found somewhere to live, but also a new school.
These vulnerable young people would lose their home, school, carers, friends and families, all in one go. There is a lot of focus in the paper on the building, when actually there is another huge factor to be considered here. The care that the children receive, and the impact that this will have on them and their families. The unnecessary disruption and trauma that the children would experience, if the closure was to go ahead, would be devastating. They are settled in every aspect of their lives, they are settled in the home, in the school and they have consistent contact with their parents and families.
Making a decision to place a child into a facility such as this, is the hardest decision any parent will ever have to make. Families are at breaking point when this decision is made. The care and the support that The Walnuts Home provides is invaluable and allows parents to have quality time with their children. These children are loved very dearly by their parents but they need professional help and support, which is exactly what The Walnuts Children’s Home provides.
The consultation says that there is limited outdoor space for the sole use of the home. The children have access to 3 large play areas, one is a ball court with exercise equipment and space for them to ride bikes and trikes, one also has a climbing frame. In addition, at the back of the home there is a garden area with a small trampoline and garden furniture. The children also grow herbs and flowers here, something which is really helpful for sensory needs. The consultation says that the dining room is shared. Whilst there is a dining room which is used by the school, there is also a family size dining room which is used by the children in the home. The children can currently decide where they want to eat.
The paper says that the buildings of the home and school do not provide separation for these children, as they are interconnected. This is something that all of the parents of the children see as a positive! They propose to turn the building into a 6th form teaching area. The numbers of children accessing the 6th form are very small, the building could easily be shared. It is a 30 bedroom building and there are currently only 5 resident boys, proving inconclusively that this is a monetary issue, not a building issue. One thing that is very clear from the consultation is that this is not about the well-being of the children as was proposed to the parents before the consultation was published, but a money saving exercise.
The parents and families of the children accessing the provision, ask you to do three things. Firstly, please sign our petition. Secondly, please read the consultation paper and complete the online form, this is needed to ensure that Milton Keynes Council truly understand peoples feelings on the potential closure. Thirdly, please think about our boys and the impact this will have on them. Do the right thing, help us fight to keep The Walnuts Children’s Home open.
The consultation paper has been written in a very persuasive way and doesn’t truly explain the impact that closing the home will have on the children, and the families of the children that currently live in the home. It is biased and doesn’t enable people to make an informed choice.
The children that live in the home are not the first and certainly won’t be the last in Milton Keynes who will need this service. Statistically more and more people are being diagnosed with Autism. This cannot be ignored. People often believe that if you have seen one child with Autism you have seen them all. This could not be further from the truth.
The children in the home have very complex needs, some are non verbal, they cannot read or write, some have epilepsy, most have severe anxiety and often they can become extremely frustrated and violent. There has been talk of moving the children out of county. This means that not only would each child need to be found somewhere to live, but also a new school.
These vulnerable young people would lose their home, school, carers, friends and families, all in one go. There is a lot of focus in the paper on the building, when actually there is another huge factor to be considered here. The care that the children receive, and the impact that this will have on them and their families. The unnecessary disruption and trauma that the children would experience, if the closure was to go ahead, would be devastating. They are settled in every aspect of their lives, they are settled in the home, in the school and they have consistent contact with their parents and families.
Making a decision to place a child into a facility such as this, is the hardest decision any parent will ever have to make. Families are at breaking point when this decision is made. The care and the support that The Walnuts Home provides is invaluable and allows parents to have quality time with their children. These children are loved very dearly by their parents but they need professional help and support, which is exactly what The Walnuts Children’s Home provides.
The consultation says that there is limited outdoor space for the sole use of the home. The children have access to 3 large play areas, one is a ball court with exercise equipment and space for them to ride bikes and trikes, one also has a climbing frame. In addition, at the back of the home there is a garden area with a small trampoline and garden furniture. The children also grow herbs and flowers here, something which is really helpful for sensory needs. The consultation says that the dining room is shared. Whilst there is a dining room which is used by the school, there is also a family size dining room which is used by the children in the home. The children can currently decide where they want to eat.
The paper says that the buildings of the home and school do not provide separation for these children, as they are interconnected. This is something that all of the parents of the children see as a positive! They propose to turn the building into a 6th form teaching area. The numbers of children accessing the 6th form are very small, the building could easily be shared. It is a 30 bedroom building and there are currently only 5 resident boys, proving inconclusively that this is a monetary issue, not a building issue. One thing that is very clear from the consultation is that this is not about the well-being of the children as was proposed to the parents before the consultation was published, but a money saving exercise.
The parents and families of the children accessing the provision, ask you to do three things. Firstly, please sign our petition. Secondly, please read the consultation paper and complete the online form, this is needed to ensure that Milton Keynes Council truly understand peoples feelings on the potential closure. Thirdly, please think about our boys and the impact this will have on them. Do the right thing, help us fight to keep The Walnuts Children’s Home open.
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