Giving back
Whatever ARI becomes, some of it should go back.
ARI is being built for families raising a child with SEND. Not every one of those families will ever use an app, and none of them should have to in order to get help. Where we can support the people already reaching them, we want to.
This page is about what we would like to do when there is something to share. Nothing has been shared yet, because there is nothing yet to share. We would rather write the aim down early and be held to it than announce it once it is safely behind us.
Why it matters to us
An app will only ever reach so far.
The same road
It started with one family
ARI started because getting one child the right support was harder than it should have been. We are fairly sure we are not the only family who has found that.
Knowing where to turn
Nobody hands you a map
We started out not knowing what to ask for, or who to ask. Some families find someone who has been through it sooner than we did. Making that easier to find is worth doing.
Whoever we work with
It answers to families
ARI is built for the people using it. If that ever looked like changing, you would read it here before you read it anywhere else.
The intention
What giving back would look like.
A share, not a leftover
Agreed in advance
Something set aside deliberately, decided up front, rather than whatever happens to be spare when the year is totted up.
Who it would go to
People already doing it
Organisations supporting SEND families right now. We have not chosen any, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
As it grows
Closer to home over time
National charities reach a great many families. Small local ones often reach the family two streets away. We would like to do both, starting where the reach is widest.
One day, perhaps
Something of our own
If a gap turns up that nobody is filling, we might set something up ourselves. That is a long way off, and we are not going to dress an idea up as a plan.
Why bother
It is the whole point
ARI exists because one family found this hard and guessed that thousands of others were finding it hard too. Helping only the families who can pay us would miss that.
You get a say
Parents know who helped
The organisation that answered the phone at the worst moment is not always the one with the biggest name. That is worth knowing before we decide anything.
Things we are not going to do.
Name a charity we have not spoken to
Putting a logo on this page before there has been a conversation would be borrowing someone else's good name to sell an app.
Claim credit before we give
There is no money yet, so there is nothing to celebrate yet. When there is, the number and the recipient go on this page.
Make this the reason to sign up
If ARI is not useful, giving a slice away does not make it useful. The app has to earn its place first.
Quietly let it slide
Building takes as long as it takes, and this page may sit unchanged for a good while. What we will not do is let the aim quietly disappear without saying why.
This is an aim, not a contractual commitment, and we would rather say that plainly than imply more than we can hold to today.
Who would you send it to?
If an organisation made a real difference to your family, we would like to know its name. Not for a press release. For the list we will be working from when there is finally something to give.