Children and young people with additional needs will take centre stage at a runway event celebrating confidence, inclusion and individuality next month.
Little SENDsations will hold its SENDsational Runway event at Coundon and Leeholme Community Centre in Bishop Auckland on November 15.
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will be encouraged to take part in the fashion show, with each model able to move along the runway in their own way.
Little SENDsations co-founder Hayley Mason said: "The runway is about recognising everyone for who they are, and their chance to wheel, run or walk the runway and just be themselves."
The charity supports children and young people with SEND across the North East, including those with complex needs and profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), as well as their families.
Founders Hayley Mason and Sam Ferguson said their own experience as mothers to SEND children, Harrison and Addison respectively, inspired the pair to create Little SENDsations.
Little SENDsations was founded by Hayley Mason and Sam Ferguson after they experienced how (Image: Little SENDsations)
Their lived experience, Mrs Mason said, gave them an insight into how inaccessible the world can feel for disabled children and their families.
The charity runs activities and creates spaces across County Durham and the wider North East where families can meet others with similar experiences, find support and feel understood.
Mrs Mason said accessibility was central to the organisation’s work.
The runway will be held in an accessible building, with wheelchair spaces available for the audience.
She said: "We're very big on accessibility and inclusivity. We believe that, no matter what a child's diagnosis, they should fit in."
Mrs Mason said children’s pageants and fashion shows traditionally feature non-disabled participants, reinforcing assumptions about what disabled children can achieve.
"You just don't see SEND children doing these sorts of things," Mason added, "but they should be, they should be inclusive and accessed by everyone."
Mason said children should learn about disability and inclusion from a young age to help prevent disabled people being ostracised later in life.
In line with this, Ms Mason said Little SENDsations is launching a campaign in mainstream schools to discuss SEND, differences, acceptance and awareness with pupils.
"I do think it starts from a young age, if you get children talking and it's not such a taboo subject, then it doesn't become something that has to be stared at or questioned when they're older," she said.
"Because if they've grown up around it, it just makes all that difference."
As the mother of a disabled child, Mrs Mason said the cost and availability of clothing can exclude SEND children from everyday life.
She said adapted clothing can be hard to find and unaffordable for families already facing extra costs linked to disability.
Mrs Mason said events such as Little SENDsations’ runway show help normalise adapted clothing and make it more accessible to future families.
Parents are looking forward to seeing their children enjoy the runway and express themselves, she said.
Alongside its awareness work, Little SENDsations organises activities including children’s raves, surfing and speedboating: "things that you would think would normally be out of reach for children in wheelchairs," Mrs Mason added.
In a social media post about the event, the charity said: "Every single one of them deserves moments like this.
"To feel special, to be celebrated, to have the world cheering them on and to know that being exactly who they are is something worth celebrating!"
Families can attend the event at Coundon and Leeholme Community Centre on November 15.