A CHARITY supporting disabled people has celebrated 25 years.

Brighter Opportunities through Supported Play (BOSP), based in Billericay, has been working with families for a quarter or a decade by providing fun short break care activities for children and young people aged four years and above, who have complex disabilities or life-limiting conditions.

The main aims of the charity, which is almost entirely self-funded, are to enable children and young people, whether they have profound physical disabilities, require specialist feeding, have complex health needs or very challenging behaviours, the option to access activities readily available to other people their age.

It celebrated the milestone with a special open day event with a special event at Queens Park Community Church Hall, Billericay, attended by Basildon mayor David Harrison.

Jodie Connelly, fundraising and development manager at the charity said: “A lot of the children don’t go to clubs outside of school because there isn’t the support for them so they can be quite isolated.

“When they come to us, we can see their confidence growing in the way they interact with us and start making requests for things they want to do.

“You can sometimes see their confidence grow after just their first session with us.

“The children often make friends with each other and sometimes meet up outside of the sessions.”

It offers a wide range of regular clubs and activities at evenings, weekends and during school holidays.

It also holds special trips to go bowling and to the cinema as well as going out for a meal to teach youngsters about important life skills such as how to handle money, asking for things and road safety.

For more information on the group, including volunteering as a support worker, call 01277 624300 or visit bosp.co.uk