InFocus Charity, based in Exeter, welcomed Steve Race MP earlier this year for a visit to its services, providing an opportunity to showcase its specialist provision and discuss the growing challenges facing the SEND sector.
During the visit, Mr Race was introduced to the breadth of InFocus Charity’s work supporting young people with vision impairment and additional and complex disabilities. He heard about the charity’s range of services, including residential care, adult day services, supported living housing, and InFocus College – a specialist further education college for young people aged 16–25.
As an independent specialist provider, InFocus College supports learners with complex disabilities whose needs would not typically be met within mainstream education. The college provides life-changing support and learning opportunities that enable young people with complex needs to develop essential life skills, independence, and confidence, helping to improve long-term outcomes.
Jane Dye, Chief Executive of InFocus Charity, said: “Our college sits at the very complex end of SEND provision. We are independent and offer further education rather than a school. What we do can often be overlooked and undervalued in wider conversations around SEND funding and reform. It is vital that the contribution of specialist colleges like InFocus is recognised at Government level and seen as part of the solution, not the problem. We welcome Mr Race’s support in highlighting the importance of specialist provision for those with the most complex needs, and the positive long-term impact it can have on young people’s lives and in reducing care needs later in life.”
Steve Race MP commented: “I really enjoyed visiting InFocus and finding out about the work they do to support young people with visual impairments, and often other complex needs. The quality of education, skills training, and care is clearly extremely good and very valuable for the young people who use their specialist services. The team do a brilliant job to make sure students have a high-quality education that sets them up to live independent lives with every opportunity to reach their full potential.
“The Government is working hard to rapidly improve SEND education in mainstream schools as well as to support vital specialist provisions like InFocus. Staff raised a few issues and ideas during my visit which I’ll be taking up with Ministers.”
InFocus Charity is a national specialist provider based in Exeter, supporting young people with vision impairment and complex needs. It is the UK’s only education and care organisation solely focused on the combined challenges of vision impairment and additional disabilities. In addition to its specialist college, InFocus offers residential care, supported living, and adult day services, and is recognised as a national centre of excellence in supporting Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), the most common cause of vision impairment in children.
Find out more about InFocus on their website: https://infocus-charity.org.uk/
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