TROWBRIDGE founder of Wiltshire Portage Service Alison Pendle said she is thrilled and honoured to receive an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to special educational needs and disabilities.

Mrs Pendle, who lives in the Wingfield area with her husband Bernard, set up the home-based educational service for 0-5 year olds with special needs and their families in 1982 with the help of Noel Pizzey and Judy James.

The 68-year-old was manager at Stepping Stones, where the service was initially based, when she started what was originally called the West Wiltshire Portage Service, before it merged with the North Wiltshire and Devizes Portage Services last year.

Wiltshire Portage aims to help parents to be confident in their role whatever the needs of the child, with home visitors visiting families in their own homes for approximately one hour each week.

“I was extremely thrilled and honoured when I found out, but it was a complete surprise,” said Mrs Pendle, who is now a management committee member at Wiltshire Portage.

“For the past 33 years, hundreds of children and their parents have welcomed us into their homes and worked with us with incredible commitment and love to support their child’s learning and development.

“I feel that this award belongs to them, to our gifted and dedicated portage home visitors and managers who have made such a difference to those families and to everybody who has given so freely of their time and expertise to develop Portage in Wiltshire.

“I particularly want to pay tribute to Noel Pizzey, now retired from Wiltshire Social Services, and to Judy James, who was Principle Clinical Psychologist at the time, for their vision and drive in helping me to create West Wilts Portage Service back in 1982.”

Children who benefit from the portage service often have conditions ranging from Down’s Syndrome to cerebral palsy. They are allocated a home visitor who devises a detailed plan and comes each week to work on a specific aspect of their learning.

The service, which is partly funded by Wiltshire Council, then teaches the child’s parent or carer how to continue to teach them when the home visitor is not there so the child can progress steadily.

Mrs Pendle added that the service always has a waiting list and the charity has to raise between £30,000-£40,000 a year to support the care funding it receives from the council.

“I warmly thank Wiltshire Council for their continuing financial contribution and support throughout the years, including through some extremely difficult times,” said Mrs Pendle.

“Unfortunately, we still have a long waiting list and have to rely heavily on fundraising to deliver Portage to as many children as possible. We are enormously grateful for any support we receive from the public.

“I want to thank my “founder” Portage team, my beloved husband, the children and families and everybody else for the huge support, joy, laughter and tears that I have received from and shared with them through all our Portage years together.”

For more information about the service, visit www.wiltshireportage.btck.co.uk