SEN Travel Training

SEN Travel Training supports and teaches children with special educational needs how to use public transport independently.

  • Location

    Nationwide

  • Launch

    Jan 2017

  • Area

    Education & Employment

Collaborators & funding partners

  • Norfolk County Council

  • Lambeth Council

  • Surrey Council

Delivery Partners

  • HCT Group

Team

Collaborators & funding partners

  • Norfolk County Council

  • Lambeth Council

  • Surrey Council

Delivery Partners

  • HCT Group

  • Andrew is Co-Founder of Bridges Outcomes Partnerships and Executive Director of Operations, Innovation and Learning. He is a Director of Kirklees Better Outcomes Partnership, GM Homes Partnership, Homelessness Support, the Single Homeless Prevention Service and is a Trustee of West London Zone.

    Prior to Bridges, Andrew was Managing Director of a social enterprise “Baobab” in Madagascar, and a non-Executive board member of two other financial inclusion social enterprises, in Senegal and China.

  • Lucia Santirso, Director at Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, has been working with Bridges for the last 6 years, during which time she has designed and implemented more than 10 Outcomes Partnerships related to:

    • Supporting young people in Kenya to take control over their health choices and paths to do more with their lives,
    • Improving the health and wellbeing of adults in the UK with long-term health conditions,
    • Helping elderly adults in the Netherlands improve their mobility and reduce their risk of falling,
    • Supporting unpaid carers in the UK to improve their wellbeing and sustain their caring role,
    • Supporting young people in the UK to attain better wellbeing and education outcomes, and
    • Supporting young people in the UK with special education needs to increase their independence towards adulthood.

    Before joining the BOP team, Lucia worked in Investor Relations at Bridges Fund Management. Lucia was also part of the Global Steering Group (GSG) Policy working group and is a co-author of the resulting report: “Catalysing an Impact Investment Ecosystem: A Policymaker’s Toolkit”. Prior to joining Bridges, Lucia worked in Equity Research at J.P. Morgan.

    Lucia holds a MSc in International Finance from HEC Paris and a BSc in International Business Administration from Rotterdam School of Management.

Overview

HCT Group and BOP partnered to design and deliver an independent travel training programme for young people with special educational needs.

Using public transport safely not only allows these children to go to school independently, but also has a significant impact on their future independence, including improved wellbeing and higher employability.

HCT Group is a social enterprise bus operator that uses its profits to provide community transport services, meaning it was the perfect partner for this approach.

For over three years, this project has had both direct and systemic positive impact, including: improved access to after-school and other social clubs and leisure activities, increased confidence and motivation to learn, access to further education opportunities, and work experience for individuals; and, via this greater independence, providing a significant amount of relief to families in terms of time and resources, as well as savings to the local authority.

Outcomes

80% of the 132 young people who started the SEN Travel Training programme successfully completed it. The programme saved at least £2.8m in transportation costs (net of costs of outcomes) for the three local authorities involved.

  • 132

    Starts to the programme

  • 105

    Successful completions of travel training

  • 86

    Students sustaining two terms of independent travel

  • £1.1m

    Outcomes achieved