Phone
01293 657 000
Autism Support Crawley is a charity supporting parents and carers of children and adults on the autistic spectrum – whether they have received a diagnosis or not. Completely volunteer-led, the group is run by parent carers who are walking the walk themselves and have a passion to support and encourage others facing the same joys and struggles.
When Autism Support first came to CCA, it was operating as a community group, but with the support of Group Development Manager, Karl Parks has since gone on to become a registered charity, with eight committee members and a countywide network of 1,200 families linked in through a combination of social media peer support groups and face-to-face meetings. The group sends out around 200 welcome packs to new members every year, has just ordered 500 more to be delivered, and has been tasked by the Child Development Centre to create relevant and user-friendly information packs for parents and carers whose child has just received a diagnosis. “We couldn’t have done it without him,” said Chairperson, Maria Cook. “It was quite overwhelming… But Karl has always been so supportive when it’s felt overwhelming and has helped to keep us motivated and on track. There has never been any pressure, he was very reassuring, and he’s very responsive.”
Both Maria and Secretary, Heather Eves said that Karl’s genuine interest and understanding of the group has built a real sense of trust between them. “He almost became one of us,” said Maria. “Because he really understands what we do and has taken the time to get to know us.” This was an important first step in the relationship, which helped Autism Support to start the journey of becoming a registered charity. “The most helpful thing was the way Karl broke everything down into clear stages, explaining the whole process,” said Heather. “He always wrote up the meetings – that follow up was really important.” Both felt that Karl’s approach made a daunting prospect feel achievable and left these envisioned parent carers stronger and more confident in the work that they were doing. “We’re all parent carers, all volunteers,” said Maria. “But we have evolved almost to a business. To have professional help to take us to that next level has been really important.”
The group is currently signed up to CCA’s Young Crawley Projects and Social Prescribing Team and has now expanded capacity thanks to assistance with taking on paid members of staff to support them with their ever-growing service. Both Maria and Heather anticipate needing support from CCA both to ensure their policies and way of working reflect this change in a robust and effective way and to recruit more trustees with specific knowledge and skill sets. These moves aim to equip and resource Autism Support to do even more in the local community and beyond. “We have become the go-to for people,” said Maria. “We have become a lifeline. Being a part of the CCA’s community has been really important for us.”