FRIENDS OF IN TOUCH
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Mission Statement
We are a registered charity that supports children, young people and young adults with autistic spectrum conditions and behaviours associated with them, in the Borough of Eastleigh Hampshire. The objective of the project is to is to enable vulnerable children and young people to feel more engaged in education and social activity by helping them develop their self-confidence,self esteem and coping skills. Children are supported through individual and group work interventions.The ultimate aim is to facilitate social inclusion by promoting emotional well-being and positive mental health among children and young people.
About This Cause
FRIENDS OF IN TOUCH We are a registered charity.Initially our project was run and managed by Hampshire County Council, with joint funding from education and health. The project has been in existence since 2004 and is now well established in the local community. We have strong links with the South Hampshire branch of the National Autistic Society (we often undertake joint project work with them), local CAMHS, local schools, generic youth services, other specialist youth services and the local community. Our secretary links in with all of the local secondary school SENCO’s, giving us insight into the needs of schools and challenges some of group members face within education. Both Trustees and staff members have a wealth of experience from a range of backgrounds and have been working with the project for many years. We have staff members, volunteers and committee members who have a diagnosis of autism, which brings a different perspective and understanding to the work that we carry out. The project is run by a Creative Arts Therapist, who has been involved since 2007. She is a highly experienced therapist who has previous experience working in CAMHS, education and specialist schools. She specialises in working with people with autism and associated mental health difficulties. The experience of our trustees, committee and staff team bring a focus to the project on mental and emotional wellbeing. The experiences of our group members and their families continually informs us of presenting needs and we are able to adapt our service to support these accordingly. For example, during the pandemic and post lockdowns we have seen an increase in the need for our group members to receive further support around anxiety and socialising. The project coordinator has been able to support individual group members, their families and signpost to other local services. The strong links with NAS allow us to keep up to date with legislative changes, training, research and current thinking around Autism. Each year evaluations are undertaken with data gathered from parents, group members and staff. This feedback is collated and reviewed, identifying any areas for development. This also affirms how the project positively meets the needs of its group members. We run participant led groups and continually adapting to our members needs. We have learned to reduce the pressure to participate in activities, giving members time and space to feel able to join when they can Each group we run has the opportunity for members to have an input into how it is run and the activities on offer. Each term, group members are consulted for their contributions and ideas, which are then incorporated into our termly programmes as much as possible. The Regular Groups we run are: Junior youth Group for children 9 -13 years of age Senior youth group NGS for young people 13 -18 years Young Adults group 18 -30 years Within each group, we have learned that individuals may need to remain in one group, in order to meet their developmental needs as opposed to their chronological age. We are flexible as to when group members transition up to next stage group. This is assessed on an individual basis and in conjunction with the group members and their parents. Staff support these transitions and group members are aided by the same staff working across all 3 groups for consistency and a sense of safety. The holiday groups and community activities are arranged termly with discussions with group members and their parents/carers. Each term the groups undertake workshops and we use local companies to deliver these. In the past we have offered drama, art, music, sports, science and animal workshops to the groups. Each group also access services within the local community, for example outdoor activity centres, bowling, cinema, laser quest, restaurants, ninja warrior, escape room and the local squash club. During the pandemic, our support moved online and we learned to utilise technology more for the benefit of our members. The senior youth group and young adult group also now have What’s-app group chats, where they can keep in contact between sessions and offer peer to peer support. We have identified an increase in the mental and emotional health needs of our group members. This has seen the project coordinator support some members on an individual basis and families have been signposted to other local services where necessary. Over the years we have been sensitive to the needs of the group members we are working with and have adapted to the groups needs. For example, we have expanded to run holiday groups as it was identified that the summer and easter breaks were times when group members and their families needed more support. During the pandemic, whilst groups were unable to run face to face, we ran sessions online each week, even during holidays in order to maintain socialisation opportunities and peer support. Feedback identified the lack of support members had once they became too old to attend our group and as such we utilised some of our previous lottery funding to start a young adults group. The impact of our project is measured through attendance, staff observation and reflection, feedback from parents and carers. We have identified an increase in the mental and emotional health needs of our group members. This has seen the project coordinator support some members on an individual basis and families have been signposted to other local services where necessary. FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS: “I’ve never seen my daughter so relaxed outside home” “Without it my so. Would be totally isolated,,it’s the only place he can be himself” AND CHILDREN: “Being at in Touch is one of the most happiest times of my life” “In General it has made me a happier person”