Annual Report for 2002/03 Session
Presented at the AGM October 2003

PALS was formed after a very successful pilot play scheme was run by South Lanarkshire Leisure with input from the National Autistic Society in summer 2002.  Parents from local autistic spectrum support groups and Social Work were also involved throughout the organisation of this scheme. At the end of the scheme, parents were advised there was no more funding available and the best way to secure funding was to form a parents’ consortium.

PALS started in August 2002, and regular meetings took place attended by parents and professionals.  Early on we decided to concentrate on provision for primary age and pre-school children.  To date we have set up a Constitution and we are recognised as a Scottish Charity.  We consulted with the local Council for Voluntary services who informed us of the “Catch 22” of funding; secure mainstream funding and you are unlikely to access a large amount of grants, funding etc from Trusts, Foundations and the like; secure Trust monies etc which will only be for a maximum of 3 years and mainstream funding will not be given.  The difficulty PALS faces is the large amount of funding we are looking for; £50 a day per child.  Our play schemes will never be self-financing, and for them to be truly successful, we need a high ratio of staff to children and extensive training for staff.  As a result of this, we decided to initially approach the heads of Social Work and Education at South Lanarkshire Council and the Director of NHS Lanarkshire.  Unfortunately, nothing positive has come out of this.

However, this summer 2 schemes ran; one for primary school age children which were located in Hamilton and Lanark operated by South Lanarkshire Leisure Play Services.  Funding came from the Childcare partnership fund.  For the first time a pre-school scheme operated in Greenburn School in East Kilbride.  We would like to thank all involved in that.

AGM October 2003
Meeting 280104
Index