Did you know?

Merton Mencap is part of the new London Travel Training Forum, for charities and other organisations to share best practice for travel training services around London.

Safer Routes to Learning Leaflet

Download our leaflet about our Safer Routes to Learning service here

Safer Routes to Learning

The ability to travel independently opens a world of possibilities - travelling to college, to work, to see friends, in fact, to move around the community to access services and facilities.

However, people with a learning disability often find it harder to travel around their community. Even when physical access is no barrier, many people with a learning disability find it harder to carry out tasks which the rest of us take for granted - such as buying a ticket, identifying the right bus to board, negotiating roads safely and liaising with the public.

This is where Safer Routes to Learning comes in.

Through practical, individual support, our travel trainer accompanies the young person between home and school, instructing them to travel safely. The young person's progress is monitored and tracked by our travel trainer until we feel they have demonstrated the required skill to travel the route independently. At that time, our travel trainer contacts the parents or carers of the young person, for their permission for them to travel independently.

Merton Mencap and Cricket Green School is working together to deliver this travel training service to young people with a learning disability living in Merton, which is being funded by the local authority. Initially provided to students at Cricket Green School, the service is now being offered to Raynes Park High students and can also be accessed through self-referral.

If you are a parent or carer of a young person with a learning disability, either living or being educated in Merton, and you feel the young person you care for would benefit from our Independent Travel Training service, please get in touch.

We believe being able to travel independently at a young age will help people with a learning disability to do more, live fuller lives and be included in their community.