Jolly Josh was founded by Carole Kelly, in memory of her 1 year old son Joshua Kelly, who sadly passed away in 2017. Carole was a primary school teacher for many years before she became a fully time carer for little Josh. She found that there was a huge gap in the health support system, which meant that families who had pre-school children with disabilities and special needs did not have the means to connect and forge peer/professional support networks. Carole created Jolly Josh with the help of an oustanding team, in the hope that they could bring families together, share experiences, exchange information and eliminate isolation.

The official objectives of Jolly Josh are:

(1) To improve the quality of life of children living with a disability and/or life limiting condition.

(2) To encourage friendships and peer to peer support for families and carers of children with a disability.

(3) To help connect children with a disability to professional support agencies.

(4) To provide play and development experiences for children with a disability which may not be possible in the home environment.

(5) To provide a safe, secure and inclusive environment for children with a disability and their families and carers to explore.

(6) To create sibling support.  Siblings are often young carers, we recognise them and help them to create friendships with those in similar roles.

Jolly Josh has currently been established 6 months and runs sessions every Wednesday at Springside School in Rochdale from 1:15pm - 3:30pm with the assistance of its wonderful volunteers.

Fund raising for Jolly Josh in the short term goes toward buying essential resources which stimulate children with complex needs. In the long term, Jolly Josh also has huge ambitions to widen its support network and to one day create a truly inclusive children's playground with a fully range of disability play equipment.

For more info check out:
www.jollyjosh.co.uk
www.facebook.com/www.JollyJosh.co.uk/