Navigating SEND support can be daunting. Families often face confusing processes, medical/technical jargon, and inconsistent local information when trying to secure the help their children need. Educators, charity workers, and local authority teams experience similar frustration with repeated questions, outdated resources, and limited time. These gaps create bottlenecks, stress, and, at times, costly disputes. The people working in the system want to help, but the structures around them aren’t always clear, consistent, or accessible. Parents say that Ella helps them move from panic and confusion to clarity and confidence. One parent said, “I felt like I was drowning in paperwork before Ella. It was the first time something actually made sense.”
How Ella Works
Ella Support Loop launched in April 2025, with a solution co-shaped by families, practitioners, and sector experts. Determined to make things clearer and fairer, they created Ella, not as a replacement for professionals, but as a way to strengthen the whole system.
Ella is an always-available digital support tool where families, teachers and SEND professionals can ask questions in any language and get clear, verified guidance.
Families benefit from immediate, emotionally safe answers to questions such as “How do I get an EHCP?”. Many parents describe it as “having a calm, knowledgeable guide” during moments of stress. Rather than relying on generic AI, Ella draws on local authority SEND policies, the SEND Code of Practice, statutory guidance, and trusted charity resources. In one case, Ella helped identify a communication gap that nearly led to a child being placed into foster care. By helping direct the right information to the right team, the child’s night support was reinstated, preventing the crisis.
As well as supporting families, Ella helps fix the system itself by showing schools and councils where parents are struggling most. Councils receive anonymised insights that reveal common questions, policy gaps, and systemic pressure points, helping to improve planning and reduce bottlenecks.
What the Grant Will Support
A grant from the John Good Group will help Ella reach more families and expand their pilot into additional schools and at least one more local authority. It will allow them to run more free guidance workshops for parents, teachers and SEND professionals.
Every additional family they support reduces stress, prevents escalation, and builds trust across the SEND system. Funding will deepen co-creation and improve Ella’s guidance based on what people are struggling with most.
Ultimately, this support will help Ella reach more families, strengthen the SEND system, and create a kinder, clearer way for people to get the guidance they need.
Being shortlisted means the world to us. As a neurodivergent parent of a SEND child, I know how confusing and exhausting it can be getting support. There were moments I felt completely alone and no parent should ever feel that way. We started Ella, not to replace professionals, but to make things clearer and support those working hard in this system. Even in our short pilot, we’ve seen it help parents feel more confident and take the heat out of crisis situations. Your vote will help bring clarity to one of the most emotionally challenging journeys a parent can face. It will help us keep building something families and professionals can really trust.
Cynthia’s leadership at Ella Support Loop is remarkable. With both professional experience in AI and powerful lived experience, she is building a genuinely grassroots initiative that puts people at the centre of technology. At a time when AI is evolving rapidly, it is inspiring to see someone working to make sure these tools serve communities safely, ethically, and for the better. The vision and integrity behind this work are exceptional, and we’re excited to support a project that could help inspire how the third sector approaches technology in the years to come.
Latest Project Updates
December 2025
Granted £2,000
After employees at the John Good Group voted for their favourite causes, Ella Support Loop received a grant of £2,000.
December 2025
Grants for Good Finalist
Ella Support Loop has become one of the top five finalists in the latest Grants for Good round, and will receive a grant between £2000 and £5000 after employees at the John Good Group have voted on their favourite causes.