If we were to claim we have the best supporters in our community, you might accuse us of being biased – but you can’t argue with facts. Team SPACE raised a magnificent £5,741 in April and you’ll shortly find out how.
Taking centre stage
Before we jump into everything fundraising, we’d like to shine a spotlight on our SPACE Trainer and Autism Peer Support Worker, Sophia Christophi, who took centre stage at the DSPL 1 – North Herts Information Event in Letchworth, alongside a number of other brilliant speakers.
Sophia delivered a talk on Autistic Girls and was able to share her own insights as a young woman with Tourette’s and Autism. We also had a stand at the event and the team loved meeting some of the 100 parent/carers in attendance who popped by the SPACE stand to say hello.
Q&A with SPACE General Manager, Karen Spencer
We know many parent/carers, along with their children and young people in our community, are neurodivergent. Therefore, it’s important for us to share our own experiences.
We loved getting the chance to host a Q&A with Karen Spencer, our General Manager at SPACE. Karen, who is neurodivergent herself and a parent to a neurodivergent child, was happy to share her own insights.
Karen opened the evening by sharing her journey as a young child who coped ok at primary school but found the wheels falling off as a teen when she really struggled to understand herself, fell in with the wrong crowd and ended up being excluded before she sat her GCSEs. Her career also got off to a rocky start, and she found herself unable to hold down a job, ploughing through a huge number of roles and organisations before finding her calling at SPACE which is set up to be inclusive and disability friendly.
It was only when Karen was going through the diagnosis process with her son that she began to recognise many of the traits she was learning about in herself. She received a diagnosis of ADHD in her 40s. Karen talked about the highs and lows of living in a neurodiverse household – the challenges such as the ADHD tax on paying parking fines, forgetting to send her son into school with cookery items etc – but also the joys and the fun they all have together.
She also shared some of the changes she has made to better manage her ADHD. This includes recently receiving an Access to Work grant, which has already had a positive influence.
Once the floor was open for questions, many parent/carers tapped into Karen’s experience asking a range of questions including identifying early signs of neurodivergence in her son, things they have done to help him with his learning – especially Dyslexia, navigating life in a neurodiverse household, understanding the process of applying for an Access to Work grant and more.
London Landmarks runners raise £2,486!
The fantastic four all stormed pass their individual fundraising targets. On Sunday, 7th April the London Landmarks Half Marathon took place. A 13.1 mile unique running route taking runners past stunning landscape of iconic landmarks as well as immersing them in London’s secret, quirky and hidden history!
Members of our SPACE community Karl, Heather, Natalie and Claire flew the flag high as they picked up the pace around London. All have their individual reasons for running for us, you can find out why here.
Family team bounce their way to £3,255!
Eager to raise funds for SPACE, the family team completed the first of two challenges they are taking on this year to give back to what they feel is
“vital support to families of neurodivergent children and young people – with long waiting times and not knowing where to turn to at times – SPACE throws their arms around you, guiding you and passing on their valuable knowledge.”
They jumped, slid, ducked and dived around the St Albans 5k inflatables course, pulling each other along when needed. Feeling inspired by our fundraising superheroes? Take a look at our challenge page to see if there’s something for you.
A crackin’ Easter with SPACE
For those who needed Easter plans, SPACE had them covered with over 20 activities taking place during the school break alone. Kicking off the Easter break, our friends at SPACE to Graffiti started by creating egg-stra colourful spray paint pieces and enjoyed a surprise Easter egg hunt by Dee from The Red House in Croxley Green.
120 children and young people had a thrilling time soaring down the slippery slopes at Gosling Sports Centre. We held six sessions of Doughnutting with our friends from Herts Disability Sports and were enjoyed by all. Spinning in circles, holding hands and flying down the slopes with peers – sounds like the perfect Easter holiday activity to us.
We brushed away the Monday blues with Children’s Pottery Painting – a cat, ladybird, unicorn, octopus, rabbits, plates and mugs were beautifully painted. When Friday arrived we headed outdoors with the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust with a Wildlife walk in Rickmansworth and Firelighting in Radlett! Our children and young people had an amazing time learning about the wildlife at Stockers lake or spending their afternoon making their own fires and whittling woods, and perfectly toasting marshmallows.
Other activities throughout the week included Introduction to Roller Skating, Children’s Online Art, SPACE to Drive, Therapeutic Farming and Outdoors at The Patch, Junior Online Cooking, Teens Online Cooking, Wellbeing Walk in the Woods, and Indoor Climbing.
Welwyn Garden City Rotary Club’s blooming good fundraiser
The club’s members kindly opened their garden gates and shared their beautiful green spaces to support families of neurodiverse children and young people. Despite the weather, members of the public were able to admire the stunning gardens whilst raising money for local charities.
We are delighted to be one of Welwyn Garden City Rotarian’s chosen charities this year. The Open Gardens is a fantastic community event that not only brings people together but is also a wonderful fundraiser. Thank you!
