Hiya,

My name is Shannon, I am a student at Health Futures UTC and I am on a mission to raise money for a place close to my heart.

My little brother in 2017 was diagnosed with Autism. Despite this diagnosis and label he is one of the happiest, funniest and most amazing kids I know.

A year prior to this he was referred to the Coneygre Center in Tipton, to a group known to us as 'Twinklys'. A group in which supports families with children who may have delays, autism like Jamie or a number of other things. This place became almost like home. A place where we were not alone to go through this journey. One in which the highly trained professionals are there and continue to be there every step of the way; from small but mighty progress, to the times where things get tough, really tough.

The centers professionals are there to be your shoulder to cry on, or an ear to rant in. Each family is given a key worker who goes through the whole process with them; from the play center all the way to starting school. Allowing the little ones to play, run around and be themselves while having important meetings and consultations gets rid of some of the stress and makes it less scary for them. The center provides everything needed in this journey, from teaching families things they need to know, all the way up until the diagnosis and preparing the families for the future.

The amazing people there are one of the reasons as to why our family had got through this journey and without them things would have been even harder. Because of this, I have set myself the mission to raise as much money as I can over the next few months to help continue their fantastic work in supporting families like mine.

My college, Health Futures, is already on board to help with my mission and kick-starting my fundraising with a light it up blue for autism day. This is where students and staff can wear blue instead of their ordinary uniform. If you can spare it, please donate to support these amazing people.

I want to thank you all for reading my story today, and even if you cannot donate, simply sharing my story to raise awareness of autism is all I ask.