Donation for charity offering support to parents

A charity which offers support to parents of children with autism is the latest recipient to receive a Be the Change donation from Teesside University.

Staff across the University can donate the spare pennies from their monthly salaries to Be the Change, to help provide grants to local organisations which are nominated by contributors.

Donations of £500 have been made to three of the latest Be the Change recipients - Middlesbrough Foodbank, Darlington Baptist Church community grocery store, and Autism Parents Together.

Nicola McBean, of Autism Parents Together, said: “The charity donation will be used towards the costs of recruiting five new volunteers, including their DBS check, safeguarding training and branded charity T-shirts and hoodies.

“The charity provides education, information and opportunities designed to support and enable autistic children and young people to maximise their potential. We also providing support groups, forums, advice, advocacy and general support for autistic children and their families.”

Nicola added: “We hold many events and activities such as soft play, swimming and climbing where we hire the venue exclusively. The benefit of hiring exclusively is that it creates a more relaxed atmosphere for the children and families. We can reduce the numbers attending, control lighting/noise etc to make it more suited to the family’s needs.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to Teesside University and Rachel who nominated us for this. We are very grateful for your support.”

Rachel Jones, Deputy Head of Events, who nominated Autism Parents Together, said: “As a parent of a child with autism, I’ve seen how much this charity does for families like mine – putting on events where my son can truly be himself and we can enjoy things we wouldn’t usually have access to. Nominating them felt like a small way to say thank you for all the support they give.”

---