Telephone: 07842 083161philipt@wiltshireportage.org.uk

Wiltshire Portage
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A parent and a toddler stacking wooden blocks together on a rug at home

WILTSHIRE PORTAGE · ACHIEVING THROUGH PLAY

Small steps, side by side, in your own front room.

A free home-visiting service for children with special educational needs and disabilities, from birth to school entry, across Wiltshire.

I'm a parent or carer Refer a child

What we do

Portage is a home-visiting educational service for pre-school children with additional support needs, and for the families who know them best.

Wiltshire Portage is a registered charity and independent organisation providing a free home-visiting, specialist educational service for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Our service reaches over 87 families across the towns and villages of Wiltshire (excluding Swindon), for children from birth to school entry, operating during term time for 38 weeks a year.

Our aim is to work with families and their young children to provide unique learning opportunities through holistic play and a step by step individualised programme to help them develop a quality of life and experience in which they can learn together, play together, participate and be included in their community.

How Portage works

Start here

Three clear routes into Wiltshire Portage. Every one of them ends with a real person, not a form in a drawer.

  • I am a parent or carer

    Find out what Portage is, whether it is right for your child, what happens on a home visit and how to ask for support.

    For families

  • I am a professional

    Health visitors, paediatricians, therapists and early years settings: our referral criteria and the referral form are here.

    Make a referral

  • I want to help

    Donate, fundraise, or join our board of trustees. Independent funding is what keeps this service free for families.

    Support our work
A Portage home visitor kneeling beside a young child on a living room carpet, both seen from behind, with a developmental journal on the floor

In your home, at your pace

What actually happens on a visit

  1. We play, and we watchYour Portage Home Visitor plays alongside your child and observes what they can already do.
  2. We agree small stepsUsing developmental checklists and journals we identify strengths and agree the next small, achievable goal together.
  3. You lead it, week by weekYou get practical help and ideas to use in everyday life. We review progress, work through the tricky bits and celebrate every success.
  4. We join up the professionalsWe work closely with paediatricians, speech and language therapists, health visitors, specialist centres and your child's setting.
Read about the Portage model

“For the first time somebody sat on our carpet, played with our son exactly as he is, and told us what he could do rather than what he couldn't.”

Parent, north Wiltshire

Family stories are shared with written consent and always anonymised. We never publish children's faces or names.

Practical help you can use tonight

Advice, ideas and things that actually work

Written by our Portage Home Visitors from what they see working in real family homes across Wiltshire. Free to read, free to use, no login.

A now-and-next visual routine board on a kitchen wall beside a sand timer

Introducing routines

Why repetition builds confidence, and how to start with something short.

 A toddler's hands exploring food on a divided plate while a parent offers a spoon

Food and eating

Sensory, physical, psychological and situational reasons behind fussy eating, plus ideas to try.

 A family bathroom with a child's step stool, toilet seat and a sticker reward chart

Toileting

A milestone that is achievable for most children, with the right support and consistency.
All advice and resources

Just give

Your donation keeps a home visitor on a Wiltshire carpet.

We are the only independent charity providing Portage in Wiltshire. Every pound goes into home visits, toys and equipment, and the training that keeps our practice excellent.

  • £10 buys sensory play materials for a family to keep.
  • £25 covers the fuel for a run of rural home visits.
  • £50 funds a full Portage session with a child and their parents.
  • £100 contributes to National Portage Association training for a home visitor.
Donate now Fundraise for us

Volunteering

We are looking for new trustees

We are looking for enthusiastic members of the community to join our dedicated team of trustees. You do not need charity experience — you need to care about young children in Wiltshire and be willing to ask good questions. All trustees are recruited safely, references and a DBS check are required, and everyone works within our safeguarding policy.

Trustee role and how to apply
Three adults talking around a wooden table in a village hall with mugs of tea and papers
Wiltshire chalk downland in morning light with fields and a distant village church spire

Talk to a person

We would rather you rang than wondered.

If you are not sure whether Portage is right for your child, ring us. There is no wrong question and no obligation.

Contact us Urgent help and helplines