Key information
Date, time and place
Friday 27 November 2026, 10am to 2pm
Venue: Southend-on-Sea Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6ER
Overview
Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF) and the Southend SEND Local Offer team are excited to co-host the third Southend SEND Information Day on Friday 27 November 2026.
This information day will have a particular focus on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing.
Following positive feedback for our previous Information Days, we're looking forward to bringing the community together again.
Why come along?
We know that navigating services and support can sometimes feel overwhelming. The SEND Information Day is an opportunity for parents and carers of children and young people with SEND, and professionals to find out about local services, organisations and support.
You'll be able to meet services, ask questions, gather information and potentially discover support you didn't know about. Whether you have particular questions, or just want to come along and explore, we hope you will join us.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Marketplace
At the event, you'll be able to visit stalls hosted by a range of services.
Mental health and wellbeing support can take many different forms, and children, young people and families may need different types of support at different points. This can range from activities and community-based support that promote wellbeing, confidence and resilience, through to more targeted support and one-to-one therapeutic services.
Support does not have to begin at a point of crisis. The Marketplace is an opportunity to find out about the different options and routes to support that may be available at different stages of a child or young person's journey.
View the list of services who have confirmed they will have a stall in the marketplace. We will add to this list as more confirm, so keep an eye on this in the run-up to the event.
Mental Health and Wellbeing SEND Surgery
For this Information Day, instead of our usual Topic Talks, we will have a Mental Health and Wellbeing SEND Surgery (10.30am to 1.30pm).
At the surgery, parents and carers will be able to book a 15-minute slot to speak directly with some of the participating services about their child or young person's needs.
This is intended to create an opportunity for more direct conversations to help families understand where they may be able to access further information and support.
Please be aware that Surgery slots will be available on a first come, first served basis and will be bookable on the day.
Each service participating in the Surgery will also have a stall at the event, so if you are unable to speak to them at the surgery, you will still be able to visit them in the marketplace.
Additional information for parents and carers
Please be aware that the Southend SEND Information Day is an information event aimed at parents and carers and is not an event for children and young people.
There will be no crèche or childcare facilities available at the event, so please take this into consideration when planning your visit.
Pre-register for the event!
If you plan to come to the SEND Information Day, we invite you to pre-register.
Pre-registering speeds up the signing-in process on the day and allows us to email you information in advance to help you plan your day (subject to your permission).