As a registered Social Enterprise we run a small shop in Torpoint Cornwall called the Autism Portal and our aim is to give people on the autism spectrum a friendly, safe and real retail environment where they can get work experience to build their skills and increase their confidence.

We have recently opened another small shop called the Autism Hub which will be used as a place to provide a drop in advice service for anyone who needs help and advice regarding autism, a meeting place for parents and carers of people on the spectrum and with any other additional needs, as well as a space to make weighted blankets for sale to help with the shop running costs.

The shop accepts donated items to be sold and the staff are all volunteers, however, we try very hard not to rely on cash donations and to be as self sufficient as we can. However after 18 months we could now use a cash injection to help us improve on what we have worked very hard to build so far with such things as costs of redecorating, installing some heating and electrics into the store rooms, providing an internet capability in the shop as well as providing a new telephone to enable cashless payments. All these things unfortunately cost money, although we break even with what we do, we unfortunately don't have the extra funds leftover to fund these kind of luxuries therefore we are asking for your help.