No one should have to navigate the SEND system alone
You don't understand the acronyms. You don't know what you're entitled to. You're terrified of saying the wrong thing and making it harder for your child.
This is why we built Alongside SEND.
Alongside SEND provides free, accessible support for families navigating the SEND system in England. We are working to establish Alongside SEND as an independent charity so that this support can remain focused on families and public benefit.
The moment Alongside SEND was built for
It's 3am. The letter in your hand uses words you don't recognise. Your child is asleep. Tomorrow you have to function. Tonight, you need something steady.
- Judith Reece, founder
Quietly present
Never replaces a lawyer, your child's teachers or the medical and other professionals supporting them. It sits alongside you, at 3am, before the meeting, or when you have a question you did not think to ask.
Meet Asha, your companion for SEND
Built for parents and carers navigating the SEND system in England. Asha helps you understand terminology and processes, prepare for assessments and meetings, organise information, draft communications and identify appropriate next steps. It draws on relevant SEND law and guidance, including the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice. Calm and accessible by design.
What Asha does
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Translates your letters
Helps you understand letters, reports and other SEND documents in clearer language, while encouraging you to check important information with the relevant professional where needed.
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Prepares you for meetings
Helps you name what matters and identify questions you may want to ask.
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Supports you across the SEND journey
From first concerns and EHCPs to meetings, evidence, provision, school placement and routes of challenge, Asha helps you understand where you may be in the process and what you could do next.
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Sits with you when it's hard
Honest, never frightening. Calm pacing. Real language. Available when you need support.
What Asha isn't
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Not a replacement for professional advice.
Asha provides information, guided preparation and signposting. It does not replace professional legal, medical, educational, social care or safeguarding advice.
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Not a generic chatbot.
Purpose-built for SEND, informed by relevant law and guidance, specialist input and lived experience.
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Not falsely optimistic.
We name the hard thing, then offer the next step.
How we are building for the future
Asha is free for families. Alongside SEND is currently founder-funded while we work to establish it as an independent charity in England.
Our proposed charitable model is designed to sustain free access through grants, philanthropy, partnerships, organisational support and, once appropriate arrangements are in place, voluntary donations.
Funding will never buy preferential access to individual family support.
Asha doesn't work alone
Asha works with specialist SEND agents designed for different parts of the journey. You do not need to work out which one you need. Asha helps identify the type of support that may be most relevant to your situation.
Meet the specialists
Asha works out what type of support may be relevant. You just share what you need help with.
Nia - First steps
For parents and carers near the beginning of the SEND journey, helping you understand terminology, options and practical next steps.
Paige - EHCP
Helps you work through an EHCP section by section, identify questions and consider where information or provision may need clarification.
Rae - Correspondence
Helps you prepare clear, structured first drafts of letters to schools, local authorities and other services.
Ava - Meetings
Helps you prepare for reviews and meetings by clarifying priorities, evidence and questions you may want to raise.
Vera - Appeals
Helps you understand the SEND Tribunal process, organise information and identify when specialist legal support may be appropriate.
Tia - Provision tracking
Helps you record what provision has been agreed, what has been delivered and information you may want to raise with the relevant people.
Remi - School placement
Helps you understand school-placement considerations, organise the needs described in an EHCP and prepare questions when exploring potential settings.
Dee - DLA
Helps you understand and work through the DLA application process and describe your child's needs clearly.
You share what's happening,
as much or as little as you like
1. You tell Asha what is happening
Share as much or as little as you want about where you are in the process, what you are worried about and what you need help with.
We design Asha around privacy and data minimisation. Please read our Privacy Notice for current information about what information is processed, how it is handled and how long it is retained.
2. She explains what comes next
The SEND system has different processes and stages. Asha can help you understand where you may be in that process, what may happen next and what you could prepare.
3. She helps you prepare
Meetings with the SENCO. Annual reviews. Assessments. Routes of challenge. Asha helps you organise what matters, identify questions and prepare for the conversation ahead.
Designed for how it actually feels
Calm pacing. Quiet design. Built to be used on the difficult days.
Emotionally aware
Navigating SEND is exhausting and often adversarial. Asha acknowledges the emotional burden before offering practical steps.
Legally informed
Asha draws on relevant SEND legislation, statutory guidance and reviewed source material. Where legal information is relevant, Asha can help you understand it and identify when qualified legal advice may be needed.
Clear boundaries. Always.
When something is outside Asha's scope, it is designed to make that boundary clear and signpost towards appropriate statutory services, charities or qualified professionals.
Your data, your terms
Privacy-first by design. We minimise the information we collect and explain clearly how information is processed and protected. We do not provide beneficiary conversations to schools, employers, sponsors or local authorities.
No overwhelm
No notifications. No streaks. No pressure. Presence, not performance.
Who it's for
Three ways people come to us.
Different starting points. Same commitment - calm, credible, human support when it matters most.
For parents and carers
Your child may have identified SEND, be waiting for an assessment, or simply need support that is not yet in place. You do not need a diagnosis or EHCP to use Asha.
Something that can help you understand what support may be available, what questions to ask and where to go next. That can sit with you at 3am when the letter arrives, help you prepare for the meeting, understand your rights, and know when to push back.
Asha was built for this moment.
Asha is free for families
No subscription. No charge. No hidden costs. Support when you need it.
You do not need a diagnosis, EHCP or statutory assessment to access Asha.
Access does not depend on your income, your employer or participation in a funded programme.
Asha - Free for Families
Full SEND navigation support. No payment required.
- Access to specialist SEND agents
- Document upload
- Conversations with Asha
- EHCP, meeting, correspondence and SEND-navigation support
- Accessibility features
- Privacy-first, with clear information about how your data is used and protected
How we fund this: Asha is currently funded by its founder while we work to establish Alongside SEND as an independent charity. Our proposed funding model combines grants, philanthropy, partnerships and organisational support to sustain free access for families.
Note: Asha is currently designed around England's SEND framework, legislation and guidance. Versions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would require appropriate localisation, safeguarding and assurance.
Why we made Asha free
SEND families can face significant financial barriers when seeking specialist support. We believe access to clear, practical SEND information and guidance should not depend on a family's ability to pay.
That is why Asha is free for families. Our aim is to reduce barriers to reliable support and help families reach appropriate human expertise when they need it.
Partner with Alongside SEND
We want to work with SEND charities, schools, education trusts, community organisations, employers, public services, researchers and mission-aligned partners to extend access and strengthen support for families.
Partnerships may help us reach families, improve and evaluate our services, contribute specialist expertise, or support the cost of keeping Asha free.
We will protect our independence. Partners and funders will not receive access to individual beneficiary conversations or influence the guidance provided to individual families.
Talk to us about partnership and impact.
Get in TouchWhy we built this
I have spent 20 years in pharmaceutical R&D strategy and digital health transformation, at companies like AstraZeneca and GSK. I know how to navigate complex systems. I know how evidence works and what levers actually move things.
And I still felt completely lost.
My children required special educational needs support. I have sat in the meetings. I have read the letters that use language designed, it sometimes feels, to confuse rather than inform. I have watched parents fight battles they should never have to fight, translating jargon they should never need to understand, just to get basic support for their children.
All that expertise, and I still could not find the path. Still could not quiet the fear. Still could not bridge the gap between what the system offered and what a frightened, exhausted parent could actually reach.
That is when it became impossible to ignore: knowledge is not navigation. Expertise does not dissolve fear.
The information exists. The pathways exist. But too many families are still left to navigate the hard parts without the support they need.
So we built Alongside SEND. A companion that acknowledges fear before offering information. That turns a wall of jargon into a next step. That is there at 3am if that is when you need it.
- Judith Reece, founder
About us
Being built with lived experience, professional expertise and independent governance, centred on the families navigating SEND.
Judith Reece
Founder
Judith Reece is the founder of Alongside SEND. She has spent more than 20 years working in health, life sciences and digital transformation and brings personal experience of navigating SEND within her own family. She created Alongside SEND from a belief that innovation should make complex systems more accessible, while remaining grounded in real human need.
Proposed founding trustees
Advisers
Lottie
Lottie believes AI can help us all be the best people we can be, but knows we have to use it right. She keeps us honest about impact and ethics.
Ang
Ang teaches people how to use AI effectively and believes literacy is the key to solving our biggest social challenges. She helps us make complex technology accessible.
Honest answers
Yes. Asha is free for parents and carers. There is no subscription or charge to access Asha. We are working to establish Alongside SEND as a charity with free access for families at the heart of its model.
No. Asha runs independently - no ChatGPT account, no third-party subscription, nothing to set up. You get instant access by email when you register.
Asha is designed around privacy and data minimisation. We do not sell beneficiary data or provide individual conversations to schools, employers, sponsors or local authorities. Please read our Privacy Notice for details about how information is processed, stored and protected.
No. Asha provides information, guided preparation and signposting. It does not provide legal representation or replace advice from a qualified professional. Where specialist support may be appropriate, Asha is designed to help you recognise that and find relevant sources of help.
Asha is designed to support families at different stages, including those who are just beginning to explore whether their child may need additional support. You do not need a diagnosis or EHCP to use Asha.
Asha is currently designed for the SEND system in England. SEND law, guidance and services differ across the UK, so the current service should not be relied upon for navigating the systems in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Future expansion would require appropriate localisation, safeguarding and assurance.
The moments that matter most deserve a companion who understands them
Whether you are a parent or carer looking for clearer support, a SEND professional working with families, or an organisation that shares our ambition to improve access and outcomes, we would like to hear from you.
Get in touch
Email: hello@alongsidesend.co.uk
For partners and supporters: Contact us to explore partnerships, evaluation, funding and ways to extend access to families.
Support: support@alongsidesend.co.uk
We aim to respond within a few working days.