Thank you for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

If you are a young person with a condition like autism, the world can sometimes be an overwhelming place. You can experience difficulties with sensory processing and with regulating emotions that prevent you from communicating with others and taking part in activities. The National Autistic Society has produced a powerful video which gives an insight into what this might feel like.

The sensory bus at Stepping Out will give our members a safe, calming space in which they can relax and regroup, ready to rejoin the outside world. It will also provide an area for individual programmes like speech therapy, drama therapy, occupational therapy and Intensive Interaction. We are aware that day services for young adults, unlike special schools, tend not to have sensory room facilities and we are determined that our members will continue to have access to such a vital resource on leaving school.

The story of Stepping Out starts with our own personal experience. As parents of an eighteen year old with autism and severe learning difficulties, we were very aware that the kind of provision he needed on leaving school was nowhere to be found in our local area. And in our teaching careers in special schools we had always known young people in a similar situation: their difficulties complex enough to need a highly personalised programme, yet benefitting from belonging to a peer group, from being based in a stable and secure environment and from supported integration into the local community. And so the idea of Stepping Out was born. Our vision is that it will become a community of members, parents, carers, employees and local people, in which all are valued and contribute in different ways to its growth.

Our budget to buy and convert the ambulance is £16,000, of which we have already raised £7,500 through our own contribution and the generous donations of Pam Scott, Sheila Trezona and the Sanderson Art in Industry Trust. This has enabled us to:

Purchase the ambulance

Pay for necessary mechanical work

Buy the fixed sensory equipment

We now need £8,500 to complete the project:

• installing the electrical system: £500

• insulation of the vehicle: £500

• panelling: £500

• vinyl flooring: £300

• installing a heating system: £500

• replacement of locks and keys: £500

• additional sensory equipment: £500

• soft furnishings: £200

• repairs to bodywork: £500

• vinyl wrapping the vehicle : £3,500

• servicing, tax and MOT: £1000

Ideally we would like to reach our target by the end of June so that we can complete the conversion in time for the launch of Stepping Out in September.

If you feel you could contribute to our project, we would very much appreciate your donation. Every contribution, however small, will take us one more step towards reaching our target.

Thank you

Stepping Out Somerset's website