Story
Fact: Millions of families in the UK are directly impacted by Autism. Despite this there is a desperate shortage of specialised support and facilities.
As mothers of Autistic children both Kim Hickie & Natalija Dolgova have personally experienced the chronic shortcomings in current provisions to support families effected by Autism. In May the mothers head to China in May to run the Great Wall Marathon to raise awareness and desperately needed funds for Support Autism
Fact: The IP postcode area (Ipswich & Suffolk) currently has no Specialist Sensory Therapy Facility to support autistic children and their families.
Establishing a specialist facility (at a cost of £5,000) will empower Support Autism to appropriately and effectively support in excess of 1,000 families locally.
Fact: The Great Wall of China Marathon is one of the worlds most challenging, with 26.2 miles and 5,164 steps to conquer.
Kim’s Story....
My son has high functioning Autism & we wanted to support our local community & raise awareness. Not just for Autism but awareness to the impact our society has on high functioning teenagers and young adults ...
As we all know through the media there has been a rise in drug and gang culture in our society. Through my own experience, I have found that teenagers / young adults with high functioning autism can be vulnerable and easily lead when it comes to gang culture. Gangs can take advantage of this and coerce them into undesirable behaviour such as stealing or carrying drugs. However, if we nurture and educate our young people, by giving them a safe space and someone they can trust, they can then explore their world and discuss their issues. Thus, hopefully empowering them to take the right course.
Support Autism
Support Autism is a new charity set up in East Anglia, which provides support, advice and therapeutic services to those who are living with ASD in their lives or are on the road to diagnosis.
There is a high need for therapeutic services which cater for those who have Autism or ADHD in our area. With many individuals suffering with poor mental health and due to an over-stretched NHS they are forced to wait for more than 6 months to be seen by a mental health worker.
Our Vision
However, it is our vision to bridge this gap in care, by offering creative therapeutic integrative counselling which nurtures growth and emotional wellbeing to those who are in need. But, the lack of funding for this type of service is non-existent.
By donating to us you are helping us to improve the lives of families and individuals within the east anglian area and improving their quality of life.
So in a nutshell we wanted to do something different!
A challenge to be remembered!
China‘s Great Wall Marathon completely fits the bill!!!!