About The Pelican Project

The Pelican Project has been a lifeline for my daughter, Lily. On leaving school, learning-disabled adults face a devastating drop-off in support and opportunity and enter a gruelling process of transition to adulthood. The social networks, passions, interests, identities, wellbeing and opportunities for individuals to grow that were once nurtured by a familiar school environment are lost. The search for a new place to belong can be defined by scrutiny and rejection. Families endure this process on top of the already pressured experience of supporting the complex needs of their loved ones. Pelican members have a host of physical and cognitive disabilities, including profound, severe and moderate learning disabilities, severe and less severe manifestations of autistic spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, mental health conditions and augmented and alternative communication users. They arrive at The Pelican Project with low self-esteem, exhausted and mistrustful of a community that has failed them.

The Pelican Project’s program aims to change this story. Our current 36 members access a program of regular groups, run in collaboration with Exeter’s key cultural spaces, alongside a rolling program of projects. These include woodwork, well-being, social activities, caravan holidays and gatherings at the pub. Most of our activities are co-facilitated by SEN teachers, providing understanding of our members’ diverse needs, and specialists in subjects such as drama, printing and dance. This way, members are both supported and recognised as valued contributors.