(UK) Charity plans "alternative school" for disabled; "demand... increasing exponentially"

August 12, 2021,Worthing Herald: A charity has submitted plans to turn a former Worthing rest home into a learning centre https://www.worthingherald.co.uk/news/politics/plans-to-turn-worthing-rest-home-into-learning-centre-for-school-children-submitted-3344378

S. coast of England

If approved, they would see the 13-bedroom home in Windsor Road used as an alternative school for ten to 17-year-olds. The Red Balloon Educational Trust wants to use the site to educate and provide therapy for up to 20 children on site and four online students who may be unable or unwilling to attend mainstream schools. The children are described as ‘quiet’ and sometimes ‘anxious’ and they may have been bullied at school. The charity aims to reintegrate these children into mainstream education or training. The house was offered to the charity by a ‘generous benefactor’ who lives in the area…. “Red Balloon is well known to the Department for Education and a trusted partner in this area of support for children and young people. It is a leader in this field which is sadly greatly under-resourced but where the demand has been increasing exponentially and that has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. “I am delighted that we shall soon have a Red Balloon Learner Centre in my constituency, and this will be an enormous benefit to families from Worthing.”… “About two thirds have special educational needs that are not being met in mainstream settings, and at least half have attempted or seriously considered suicide….