Catherine and Brett Haslam have battled for months to find help for their two-year-old disabled son William, who has a development disorder, and even feared they might have to move to another area to get the type of specialist care they wanted for him, which is currently not available in Bolton.

The couple thought that they had no other option, but due to a recent change in criteria by Bolton Council to give children with additional needs a free nursery place, they have been given a lifeline which will see William benefitting from the support and stimulation he needs in a nursery environment.

SMILING William Haslam looks like he does not have a care in the world — but the toddler has been diagnosed with global development delay, meaning he is behind in all aspect of his life and will require expert help in his young life to bring him up to his learning potential.

Several years ago a service that would have met his needs, provided to local authorities around the country by the National Portage Association, was axed from Bolton – although it remained in Wigan and Bury.

The service offers one-to-one home visits where a professional works with a family to help them develop a quality of life for themselves and their child.

Mrs Haslam, who lives in Horwich with her husband Brett, aged 42, their daughter Holly, aged nine, and William, says that although she is delighted that he has been offered the nursery place, she says that a "postcode lottery" should not mean that children like William miss out on care.

She said: "I am really pleased and grateful that we have been offered this nursery place. It will be life changing to me and my husband — but mainly to William. All we want is to give him the best possible start in life and hopefully this will help.

"It's not quite the same as the portage service and I still want to campaign for it to return to Bolton so I have set up an e-petition, as it really is the best possible assistance that a child with a development condition can receive.

"It is frustrating to think that if we lived in either Bury or Wigan we would get it. It's a postcode lottery and I'm sure there are a number of other families from Bolton who are in the same boat.

"We have discussed moving on several occasions in the past because we were told that if he doesn't get the help — and quickly — then he would get more disabled."

Kelly Judd, Bury's senior portage worker, believes that a child like William would benefit from the service. She said: "Early intervention is key – and anything where we would be helping mum and dad to teach the child more skills will have a positive effect.

"If the family lived in Bury, William would be able to access a fortnightly home service. Rather than concentrate on the medical intervention, i.e. what they can't do, we look at what they can do through play using development toys and games. It's a proven method that I believe William would benefit from."

Mr and Mrs Haslam realised that something was not right when William did not reach his milestones.

Mrs Haslam said: "Nothing flagged up to us that anything was wrong during the pregnancy. Even when he was born there was no indication of a problem until he didn't reach his firsts. He's two-years-old now but he's more like a 12-month-old.

"He struggles with all aspects of his development – from walking, eating and talking. When we found out what was wrong I joined a few support groups for children with global delay and a lot of parents were raving about the portage service, which is when I tried to find out about it – but I was told it was no longer available here.

"William's condition is permanent and at some point his learning ability will plateau, so we need to get him to reach his potential as soon as possible. Unfortunately though there is only a small window before they plateau so any help he gets while he's young will benefit him immensely.

"Hopefully these nursery places will do that, but in the meantime I will still be campaigning for portage service to return."

A council spokesman said: "We recognise that children with developmental issues can benefit from early support and stimulation via a nursery setting and have recently amended the discretionary criteria for two-year-old places at nursery. Included in the criteria are children not yet in receipt of an Education Health and Care plan but identified with special educational needs.

"Additional support can be identified through the EHC plan, which has replaced the statutory assessment of Special Educational Needs, and ordinarily children are assessed for a plan in their pre-school year, from the age of three or four.

"We work with our partners to provide a range of services that are available to children whose needs meet the eligibility criteria. Some services for pre-school children have changed over recent years but early help for children who are presenting with a level of need is available via our health partners and key workers are allocated to families, who can provide the correct help, support and referral where appropriate."

Mrs Haslam has set up a Change.org e-petition to re-establish Portage in Bolton for children with additional needs. To read or sign it, visit chn.ge/1rSzeef.