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What is SNAAP?
SNAAP (Special Needs Advisory & Activities Project) is a local charity supporting families who have children aged 0-19 years with any additional need or disability living in the Canterbury & Coastal area.
We provide information and support to families and carers enabling them to help themselves and their children. We also provide regular leisure activities and aim to increase mainstream inclusion opportunities for children with disabilities and special needs.
Why is SNAAP carrying out fundraising events?
In a nutshell, SNAAP is currently feeling the pinch of the current economic climate. We are therefore organising a series of activities throughout the year to enable us to raise vital funds.Being a charity means we rely solely on grants and donations. With the decrease in grants available we are looking to raise as much as we can through fundraising activities to give us the funds we need to continue our current services as well as develop other much needed services.
Why is this important?
For some families SNAAP is a lifeline. We are able to provide support throughout the many difficult times that our families face, such as diagnosis, tackling challenging behaviour and the transition from child services to adult services.
We also provide families with regular activities to attend allowing them to get out of the house with their child and attend an activity or event without the fear of being judged or having to tackle situations alone. Some of our sessions also provide short breaks for families to give the child some independence and time to develop their social skills as well as allowing the parents/carers a chance to have a break.
Unfortunately, as some of you may be aware, low funds have forced us to close our 2 preschool groups. We are very aware that this is a critical stage in these families’ lives and are looking to securing funds to allow us to develop services for this age group in the near future.
What will the money raised go to?
The money raised from any events that we organise all go directly towards maintaining existing services. These include sports club, youth clubs and school holiday activities.
Future goals
On-going funding will always be necessary to ensure the services that SNAAP provide continue long in to the future. We are a parent led charity and endeavour to develop any service that the parents request/need.