A Personal Journey to Empower SEND Families.

Why I Started SEND Protect: A Personal Journey to Empower SEND Families

By Cara Roughani, Founder of SEND Protect

As a mum to a wonderful boy with autism, I understand how overwhelming life can feel when you’re navigating the world of additional needs. The therapies, the appointments, the endless paperwork — and perhaps most of all — the uncertainty about the future.

Drawing on over 20 years of experience in finance and wealth management, I’d spent my career helping families plan, protect, and grow their financial futures. But early in our journey with Jayden, I quickly realised that everything I knew about financial planning needed to be reconsidered. His diagnosis changed everything.

While there was plenty of support available for education, therapies, and healthcare, there was almost nothing that addressed the unique financial realities of SEND families. Even with my background, when I tried to get clear, practical advice on things like wills, trusts, or how to protect Jayden’s future if I wasn’t here one day, I was met with jargon, complicated processes, and guidance designed for typical families — not for children who might require lifelong care and protection.

That was the moment I knew we needed something different.

What We Do at SEND Protect

SEND Protect was created to give SEND families access to the kind of clear, compassionate, and bespoke financial advice I wish I’d had when our journey began.

I work with a trusted network of qualified experts to provide advice tailored to each family’s unique needs. Together, we help families put plans in place for both now and the future, offering services such as:

• Creating wills, trusts, and guardianship plans

• Reviewing financial protection products like life cover and income protection

• Offering tax-efficient savings and investment advice

• Delivering practical, jargon-free financial education

But more than the services, SEND Protect is about empathy. It’s about meeting families where they are and replacing fear and overwhelm with knowledge, confidence, and peace of mind.

How Lisa Became Part of SEND Protect

Lisa and I go way back. We met while living in Dubai, starting our motherhood journeys just a year apart. While our experiences of parenting were different — Lisa is a mum to a neurotypical child — she became one of the people who stood by me through the meltdowns, the late-night panics, and the endless figuring-it-out moments that come with raising a child with additional needs.

Lisa comes from a business development and marketing background, and right from the start, she believed in what I was trying to build with SEND Protect. She could see the huge gap in financial education and support for SEND families and was determined to help me bring this vision to life.

Today, Lisa leads our community work, events, and marketing, ensuring we reach the families who need us most. Together, we’ve built SEND Protect not just as a financial service, but as a supportive, empowering community for SEND parents navigating the same fears and questions we once faced ourselves.

The Common Challenges SEND Families Face

One of the biggest financial challenges SEND parents face is that our circumstances often look very different from other families’. Many of us have one parent who’s had to reduce their working hours or leave work altogether to care for their child. The cost of therapies, private services, and specialist equipment quickly adds up. And while we focus so much on our children’s immediate needs, it’s difficult to find the time, energy, or guidance to think about long-term financial security.

That’s exactly where SEND Protect steps in — offering tailored financial solutions and helping families put practical plans in place to secure their child’s future.

My One Piece of Financial Advice

If you do one thing today, please make sure you have a will and a guardianship plan in place.It’s something so many SEND families avoid because it feels too emotional or complicated, but it’s one of the most important ways you can protect your child’s future and make sure their care is handled by the right people if anything happens to you.

And you don’t have to face it alone. We gently guide families through the process with warmth, care, and the kind of understanding that comes from lived experience.

How We Stay Current

SEND Protect isn’t just a financial service — it’s a community.We stay connected with families, local organisations, legal experts, and SEND charities, keeping up to date with the ever-changing legislation, benefits systems, and financial products that impact SEND families.

This means our advice is always rooted in real life, not just theory — ensuring it’s relevant, practical, and empowering.

Resources to Support SEND Families

SEND Protect provides free, accessible resources including downloadable guides, myth-busting workshops, financial education events, and one-to-one consultations. Everything we create is designed to cut through the jargon, replace anxiety with clarity, and help SEND parents feel more in control of their family’s financial future.

How to Get Started

Getting started with SEND Protect is simple.You can book a free, no-pressure chat via www.sendprotect.co.uk to talk about your family’s needs. The first conversation is informal, focused entirely on you — where you are now, your concerns, and what kind of support you might need.

It’s the conversation I wish someone had offered me when our journey began.

Thank you for reading our story. If you know a SEND family who might benefit from a little clarity and peace of mind, please share this with them. Our mission is to reach and support as many families as possible.

Cara x