Latest News

A message from John Phillipson, Chief Executive

It is currently a very exciting time for the Society.  The buildings that we now occupy have served us well but we  now need to make progress in improving them.  We will be building a new school for children and young people aged 5 – 19 years on one campus.  We will also be developing a new building for our highly regarded college for adults.  We have already embarked on a radical programme of improvement in our residential care services replacing large old care facilities with modern four bedroomed units.

The Society needs to work much more closely with Local Authorities to provide support services for children, young people and families.  I have a wide range of work experience that I hope will be of help in relation to these developments.

I shall keep you up to date with progress and developments.

AET Roadshow April 08
Autism Education Trust - Roadshow Newcastle 26th April 2008 Press Release
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April 2008

Autism Education Trust announces Newcastle roadshow to raise awareness and encourage involvement

Following the successful parliamentary launch of The Autism Education Trust (AET) in November 2007, the Trust has announced a series of awareness raising ‘roadshows’ across England in April and May starting with an event in Newcastle on Saturday 26 April. The event will further publicise the AET to relevant stakeholders and will encourage closer participation in the work of the Trust.

Ian Wylie, Chair of the AET Steering Group, said “Since the launch of the AET in November we have been establishing our vision, values and workplans to take us into a second year. We must now involve more stakeholders at grassroots level in the work of the AET, including children and young people with autism, their parents / carers and professionals involved in autism education.”

The event will take place at the Newcastle Springfield Centre, off Blakelaw Road in Newcastle, on Saturday 26 April from 11am – 4pm. It will provide an opportunity to learn about the work of the Trust to date, to discuss relevant local issues in more detail and to inform the future workplans of the AET.

Ian Wylie continued, “We want as many people as possible to be able to speak to us first hand about their experiences of autism education and to have an opportunity to become more involved in our work. The AET represents a commitment by government and the autism sector to improve access to appropriate education for the one in one hundred children with autism in England. These events are an important step in shaping the work of the AET over the next few years.”

John Phillipson, Chief Executive of the Tyne & Wear Autistic Society said “We are committed to providing first class services for children, young people and adults with autism. Whilst the quality of our provision results in us attracting students from throughout the UK the vast majority are from the North East of England. It is apparent from the huge number of enquiries that we receive just how difficult it is for families to obtain suitable provision. The reality is that the lives of so many of those with autism are severely blighted because they do not receive the help they need, access to appropriate services is not yet guaranteed due to lack of places available and the lack of resources to fund them. We welcome the introduction of the Autism Education Trust in our region to help us plan for a brighter future for all children and young people with autism. We look forward to attending the event in April to learn more about how we can work together.”

Tickets to the roadshow are limited (based on capacity of the venue), and will be issued on a first come-first served basis. Anyone wishing to attend should contact the AET at info@autismeducationtrust.org.uk or call 07795 667749 to reserve a place. Parents are welcome to bring their children to the events and dedicated playworkers will be in attendance to ensure they are entertained.

The AET was launched in the Houses of Parliament in November 2007, and is dedicated to improving the educational experience of the estimated 106,000 children with autism in the UK. The AET believes that all children and young people with autism should receive an education which enables them to reach their individual potential to engage in society as active citizens (and that individuals, families and professionals are informed, supported and equipped to enable this to be achieved). For further information please visit www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk

ENDS
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For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Jennie Spears: 07944 552634 jennie.spears@tiscali.co.uk
Romany Simon: 07793 403107 romanysimon@gmail.com
Notes to Editors

Further information about the AET can be found at www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk
The Autism Education Trust is a new organisation established with funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It is dedicated to coordinating and improving education support for all children with autism in England.
It is estimated that one in 100 children have autism. Their education is the primary concern for most parents and carers. The Autism Education Trust aims to create a platform for voluntary, independent and statutory providers to plan and develop appropriate autism education provision across all education settings, including early years. ________________________________________

Lands End to John O Groates
Sponsored bike ride by John Phillipson - Lands End to John o'Groats

The journey started on Saturday 4^th August and took us through Cornish country lanes and across Dartmoor on the hottest day of the year. We rode past Cheddar Gorge and across the Severn into South Wales.  It was during this first part of the journey that I realised how much more training I should have done as I followed the rear end of a 74 yr old man as he accelerated away on each and every hill we reached.

 

The route through Wales and the English Borders up to the Mersey is beautiful and strewn with country pubs which assisted with the re-fuelling.  We took the ferry across the Mersey and a slight detour past the Cavern Club for nostalgias’ sake before heading again through the Lakes up to Carlisle.  The first week of the journey was completed in sunshine and probably the best weather of the summer. I have to say that the second week however gave us some of the coldest weather.  We cycled up through the borders and Glasgow to Loch Lomond in a rain storm and just as we though things couldn’t get any worse, they did.  For the following days we had showery weather as we ground our way up to the Great Glen and into the Northern Highlands before donning winter clothes and eventually extreme weather gear on the ride up to Tonge.  Barely able to make our way into the Youth Hostel at John O’Groates because of hours of cycling in sub zero temperatures, rain and hail conditions we were greeted at the Hostel by a Geordie Maitre’d a warm shower and a celebratory glass (or several)!

 

Thank you to all those that sponsored me – a total of c. £1000 was raised for the Society.

 

John Phillipson

Alnwick Garden Walk
Sunday 13 May 2007

Our twenty teams of walkers, totalling some 120 people was made up of staff, students, friends and relatives of The Tyne and Wear Autistic Society  who joined in with enthusiasm and vigour. This was a fundraising walk  organised by Autism Speaks, a UK based charity founded two years ago by autism champion Dame Stephanie Shirley as a sister charity of Autism Speaks in the USA. Their aim being "to significantly increase our understanding of autism within 10 years because with real understanding come real help and real hope".  The walk took us around the garden, through the Woodland and along the Barneyside. 

Unfortunately the weather was not as kind as we would all have liked and expected for May but it did not detract from the day.  Thirty seven  of our students took part ranging in age from 8 yrs to 30 years and in fact one student alone managed to raise £252.50 - what a fantastic achievement.  Altogether we raised a phenomenal £3,865.70 and would like to thank all those who supported the event.

We feel it is necessary to work together with partner organisations to help raise awareness and research into Autism.

If you would like to further information on Autism Speak their website is: www.autismspeaks.org.uk

 

"Splitz"- Fit and Fashionable Show, Hexham

The dance group "Splitz" perform an annual event at the Queens Hall Theatre, Hexham.  This year's event took place on Friday 11 May and they kindly donated all proceeds from the event to The Tyne and Wear Autistic Society.  It was a lively evening of dance and fashion, compered by our Chief Executive, John Phillipson.  Juliette, Chris, Emma, Natasha and Lynda all went to help out and ensured no spectator got past them without buying a raffle ticket.

We had some fantastic prizes donated to us for the raffle which included a round of golf for four at Slaley Hall, a pamper day at Slaley Hall, Champagne, Zip Slide to mention just a few and we would like to thank all our supporters for their donations.

The evening raised a total of £1,830 for the Society and we would like to take the opportunity to thank "Splitz" for choosing the Society in this year's fundraising event.

National Clean Air Award
National Clean Air Award

Linda McDonald our Catering Supervisor has once again accepted on behalf of her team and the Society, a Gold certificate for the National Clean Air Award presented to her by the Deputy Mayor of Sunderland Mr L Scott and his wife, on 16 January 2007.

The NCAA is the first UK wide scheme that rewards employers who implement effective workplace no smoking policies by giving them a prestigious, nationally recognised award.

The award received by the Society was the GOLD award which is given to premises which are totally smoke free.

Heartbeat Award
We were recently presented with the Heartbeat Award. This was presented to Linda McDonald our Catering Supervisor at Thornhill Park School by Mayor Councillor Tom Foster in a ceremony at the Civic Centre, Sunderland on 8 November 2006.

Linda and her team worked hard to achieve the standard which is managed by the Environmental Health Officers and Dieticians.


The Heartbeat Award is a nationally recognised award presented to caterers who are committed to offering greater choice to customers through the provision of a healthy environment and healthier food choices.