Lending Policy & Information

Welcome to our Sharing Service.

Swindon Families Voice wants every family, regardless of disability, to have access to play and learning opportunities. We recognise that additional needs can sometimes bring additional financial and needs based challenges for our families and we wanted to do something about this. If you are a family in the Swindon area, you can use our online catalogue to loan specialist play and SEND equipment. For more information about our upcoming events please use the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/SwindonSENDfamiliesvoice/ 

Currently we are offering a free delivery and collection service on the following days during term time;

Monday, 10:00 -12:00pm

Wednesday 10:00 -12:00pm

Friday 10:00-12:00pm 

Policy Information:

The Lending Library will allow you to loan 2 items per child at a time. You can reserve a 3rd item, but this must be for a different date. This allows for more families to access the library.

Each item can be loaned for 28 days at a time (some items may be different or subject to change such as Specialist Pushchairs)

At the end of your loan, you will be sent an electronic feedback form. This feedback supports us with grant applications, monitoring the service need and reviewing equipment. To enable us to continue this service, please complete your survey.

Loaning Our Equipment:

To start lending, you will need to register first, which you can do on our website. It’s £3 per family to join per year. If you prefer to browse first before signing up, you can do that too. The money charged for registration will ensure that we can keep the Lending Library running and help us with the cost of upkeep and purchasing further items. If you are in receipt of any of the following benefits the fee can be waivered if you are struggling financially (Universal Credits, Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance or Income Support). Please do get in touch to discuss how we can help.

Equipment is available to hire at no cost, for 28 days. You can have two items per child on loan and reserve one item at any one time. You may need to provide a fully refundable deposit for items of the highest financial value such as Laptops, Tablets and Specialist Pushchairs etc. You may also need to sign and agree to some additional terms and conditions for these specialist items, which will be shared with you when you reserve your item. Where needed, instructions on how to use the equipment will be sent via email or will be available online via the online library catalogue. Please return the item in any boxes / packaging it was supplied to you in. Most items will come in a SEND Sharing Service bag, these bags are property of SEND Families Voice and are part of the loan, so please make sure you return any bags with the item you are borrowing. Many Thanks. 

Batteries and Cleaning:

Batteries are supplied with items where required. Please note that existing batteries may not last the duration of the loan, in which case you will be responsible for replacing the batteries if you wish to continue using the item for the remainder of the loan.

We check and clean all items before each loan. If you receive an item that is damaged or faulty, please contact us straight away and we will try and arrange a suitable replacement where possible. This means that there will always be a delay between loans being reserved and released due to the need to clean and check over items before lending.

Swindon SEND Families Voice reserve the right to remove items from the library catalogue if they are unable to loan an item due to it being lost, stolen or damaged whilst out on loan.

Collection/Drop off :

We now offer a free Collection and delivery of items and this will be arranged via a member of our team.

You must place your reservation first – clicking on the option that suits you – and then a member of the team will contact you to confirm/arrange a convenient time for you to come and pick up/drop off your equipment. 

All of this information is subject to change so please do keep an eye out for emails and social media posts detailing any potential changes to the running and organisation of the SEND Sharing Service.