After a busy start to the year, Children and Young People Self-Advocacy (CYPSA) have published their January and February newsletters. The newsletters are packed full of great articles, from meeting summaries, the views and opinions of our members and updates from our young people’s champion to SEND highlights and some fun and games.
January
January’s newsletter reflected on the recent South West conference, where CYPSA was invited to attend and present at the event.
The group shared the thoughts, opinions and lived experiences of its members and followed that up with some interactive questions for the attendees. Later in the newsletter members of CYPSA shared their wishes for the coming year, their reasons for joining the group, their hopes for the group and their views on the services they use.
This newsletter also broke the news that makers of Peppa Pig were working with the National Deaf Children Society to produce a storyline where Peppa’s brother George was diagnosed with being moderately deaf, a major piece of representation on our screens!
February
February’s lovely newsletter looked at the 2026 SEND White Paper, what it is and what changes will be happening as a result of it.
The group also shared their views and opinions on change, what they think of it, what changes are coming up for them, what would make change easier and how they would like to be involved in changes in their lives.
The newsletter also shared the inspirational story of Pim from Pittsburgh, who surpassed the record for the most Girl Scout Cookies sold (selling over 100,000 cookies) after being told that her disabilities would hold her back. An amazing story of a young person overcoming the barriers that society has made.
Who are CYPSA?
CYPSA is a forum for young people aged 0-25 years old with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in the South West region, that helps young people have their voices heard about the things that are important to them. Through their work as part of the forum members of the group help raise the awareness of the needs of children and young people with SEND across the region.
For more information about CYPSA, email cypsa@somerset.gov.uk
Could you be an Unstoppables?
The Unstoppables is a youth voice group for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) aged 13-25 years, who live in or are educated in Somerset.
The Unstoppables help the voices and opinions of young people with SEND in Somerset be heard and to help make changes to and improve the services that they use.
We meet monthly on the first Saturday of every month in Yeovil to discuss the topics and issues that are affecting and are important to the group and other young people with SEND in Somerset.
If you would like to join or if you know someone who would, visit out Join Us page.
