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Kelly, one of our wonderful ‘Shine Bright for Bristol Children’s Hospital’ fundraisers, has created an immersive Special Education Needs or SEN-friendly Christmas display. It’s designed to be completely accessible, so no one misses out when they come to visit. She tells us about her passion for creating a safe space for children and adults with additional needs as a SEN parent herself.

“Myself and my children, Holly and Cameron, have been creating light displays for years – it’s something we love to do as a family.  

Both of them have been under the care of Bristol Children’s Hospital, but three years ago, we discovered that Cameron has a rare genetic condition. We don’t know how it’s going to affect his life – no one in the hospital’s database even matches what he’s got. That’s when I realised, we’d be under their care a lot more for the foreseeable future, and we wanted to give something back.  

So, we took part in ‘Shine Bright for Bristol Children’s Hospital’ – and loved it! We’ve been doing it every Christmas since and encourage everyone to come and visit Auden Mead Lights Display, which will be live from 30 November – 3 January.

It’s scary for all of us, not knowing what the future holds, not having answers to our questions, but we wanted to take that energy and do something positive and productive with it. Because of his condition, Cameron has some learning and sensory difficulties. Things can get overwhelming quite fast. But we’re using it as a superpower – to create a space that every SEN child can come and enjoy. And it’s Cameron’s own experiences that help shape our display, because he knows what things he likes, what things upset him, and we apply that.

Shining bright as a family

Our first year creating a fundraising display was the usual: a mix and match of bright lights, colours and the resources The Grand Appeal sent us. It looked really nice, and we raised some money, but something was missing. It didn’t feel like us. 

That’s when we decided to create a completely SEN-friendly, accessible Christmas display.

We created it together, and Holly and Cameron have their own input and parts of the display they like to own. Cameron likes to design the ‘SEN den’, which is a cosy teepee with soft fairy lights and sensory toys inside to play with. This Christmas, we’ve even added a projector that mimics the Northern Lights. 

Every part of the display is carefully designed. I’ve thought about all the materials and how a SEN child might react to it. The sheets on the ground look like snow and when you stand on them, they crunch. We have fake snow and slime that the kids can play with. The lights are gentle, not overstimulating, and we keep them blue and white because those colours are calming. Every path is clear, and wires are fully taped down so someone with a visual impairment, or a wheelchair can still get through.

Spreading awareness about The Grand Appeal and SEN

We make sure to represent the charity clearly – we want people to know that when they donate, it’s going to a good cause. This Christmas Feathers McGraw is locked away in a makeshift jail cell and we’ve even got our light-up Gromit from last year in his very own igloo!

This year is our biggest year yet. We’ve got a little gift for each child that visits and teddies for babies as a nod to Cots for Tots. We‘ll be selling sensory packs that includes allergy-free sweets and fidget toys for a small donation, and on Sunday 7 December, Santa and his elves will be visiting to say hi to children. It’ll be a low-cost way for parents to take their child to see Santa and adds to the magic of the display. 

We’re even teaming up with the Christmas Dubs this year, who will line our street with their incredible convoy of decorated vans.  

We’d love to see new families this year, so please come and visit us from Saturday 30 November – Friday 3 January, 5pm – 9pm.”