Learn about Signpost's history
Signpost began as a volunteer project in March 2001, run by a group of parents who started a help-line in Lesley Mount’s spare bedroom.
Telephone callers were offered information about local services and a chance to chat to parents who had been through similar experiences. The volunteers used the knowledge they had gained from their own experiences, and the information they had collected for their children. With the support of staff from Education and Health, and following an intensive publicity campaign to raise awareness of the service, the volunteers soon found parents and professionals calling the help-line from all over West Lothian.
The helpline was originally funded by The Millennium Commission, a Government fund to help volunteers make a difference in their community.After a successful year, the parents formed a committee and Signpost became a charity. This allowed us to apply for funding from the Lottery (Community Fund), from a trust fund (Lloyds TSB Foundation) and from Children in Need (a charity which funds services for children). All three gave us some funding, which together covers running costs until the end of 2005.
Signpost now has three part-time staff (who all have children with special needs) and operates full-time from an office at Beatlie Campus in Craigshill, where it is close to other services used by families who have a child with special needs.
The work of the staff is overseen by a committee of volunteer parents and professionals, who ensure that Signpost remains true to its ideals and close to its users' needs. If you would like to know more about the committee, click here
