Sparkle's Research and Development Officer recently attended the British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD) Annual Scientific Meeting in Sheffield.

The BACD is made up of childhood disability professionals from a variety of sectors and organisations across the UK, and aims to support those working with children and young people with disabilities, and their families, to provide the best quality care and support possible. Their Annual Scientific Meeting is an opportunity for these professionals to come together and share examples of good practice and current research. The theme for this year's conference was 'Current evidence and management challenges in Cerebral Palsy', with a variety of talks and poster presentations on effective medical interventions and support services for children and young people with Cerebral Palsy.

Sparkle was fortunate to be accepted for a poster presentation at the conference. This allowed us to share findings from a recent evaluation on the impact of specialist leisure as respite for family-carers of children with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy. conducted with the support of the Children's Centre Psychology team. Our Research Officer has able to talk to various researchers and health professionals about the impact of our specialist leisure clubs and the need for holistic, whole-family approaches to care and support.

Sparkle would like to thank the Waterloo Foundation, which is supporting Sparkle again this year to share our research findings with a small dissemination grant. You can find out more about our research here, or by contacting our Research Officer on research@sparkleappeal.org.