Caroline Hearst (CF 2017) from Reading in Berkshire is the Director of AutAngel CIC, a community organisation run by autistic people for autistic people. Prior to the pandemic, Caroline devised and delivered a unique education and peer support programme called Exploring Being Autistic, which she successfully moved online during the pandemic. Demand for the programme increased during this time and continues to far exceed supply.

Caroline will use her grant to train more facilitators to deliver the programme, enabling it to reach more people. The programme has proven to provide beneficial support and education for adults diagnosed or self-identifying as autistic, but currently Caroline is the only facilitator. The funding will cover training costs for six more AutAngel staff members to become facilitators and enable them to run at least two online Exploring Being Autistic programmes. Caroline will work with Dr Laura Crane, Associate Professor at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education at UCL, to evaluate the programme and provide further research to demonstrate its efficacy. Caroline hopes to meet the needs of more unsupported autistic people through the programme, as well as providing increased confidence and paid work for the newly trained facilitators.

Caroline’s Fellowship to Australia, New Zealand and the USA in 2017 explored peer provision and partnership in supporting autistic adults. It was supported by the Mental Health Foundation.

Baroness Sheila Hollins (CF 1993), from Bookham in Surrey, is the co-founder of Books Beyond Words, a charity that creates word-free stories and supports book clubs for people who find pictures easier than words. Sheila co-founded the charity with her son, who has learning disabilities. During the pandemic, the charity created several free stories to respond to people’s unmet communication needs and ran eight virtual book clubs in Kent, with positive feedback from attendees.

Sheila will use her grant to extend the charity’s work into Surrey, forming six new book clubs which will meet twice a month. The clubs use books that have been co-developed and tested by people with learning disabilities, to ensure they appeal and are easy to understand. The funding will enable the charity to recruit and train a part-time project manager and volunteers to run the clubs, alongside recruiting members. It will also provide access to word-free stories and to Zoom to enable the clubs to take place online if face-to-face meetings are not possible. Sheila will evaluate the project with the aim of expanding it further. She hopes the clubs will provide a safe space where members can support each other and develop their visual and emotional communication skills.

Sheila’s Fellowship to Canada and the USA in 1993 explored alternatives to medication in supporting people whose behaviour was experienced as challenging by service providers.

Herbert Klein (CF 2020) from London is President of the British Society for Mental Health and Deafness. During the pandemic, Herbert and the Society received a large increase in requests for support and advice from members of the Deaf community who were struggling with mental health problems as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Herbert will use his grant to run a series of free Mental Health First Aid Courses for the Deaf community, to help them gain confidence in managing their own mental health as well as supporting others experiencing mental health distress. The training will enable them to learn practical skills to identify the signs of mental health struggles in others and to respond with appropriate guidance and advice. The training will be delivered in British Sign Language (BSL) by an accredited Deaf Mental Health First Aid England instructor who will train a total of 80 attendees: 30 will receive Mental Health First Aider status and 50 will receive introductory Mental Health Awareness training. The aim is that it will provide greater access for the Deaf community by offering the training in their first and preferred language of BSL. Herbert hopes that ultimately it will offer increased support for those in the Deaf community who are struggling with mental health problems.

Herbert’s digital Fellowship in 2020 explored improving emergency services for deaf people.

Steve Parker (CF 2003) from Leicester is a Management Committee Member at Isleworth Explorers Club, which offers activities and trips for children and young people in the London borough of Hounslow. Prior to the pandemic, they ran two sessions each week specifically aimed at disabled young people and those with special educational needs. However, these stopped when the club was forced to close during lockdown and, due to budgeting issues, have not resumed.

Steve will use his grant to restart these sessions and hire the necessary part-time staff to enable them to go ahead. As part of the programme, the club will additionally offer three sleepover sessions, which can help the young people to move towards independence while offering respite to their parents and carers. The funding will enable sessions to run twice a week during term time throughout 2022. Steve hopes that the programme will help disabled young people to receive the social and community support they need which was lost during the pandemic, and that it will also provide support for their parents and carers.

Steve’s Fellowship to France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in 2003 explored youth funding programmes.

Sue Sharples (CF 2019), from St Annes on Sea in Lancashire, is director of U-Night Group, a community interest company that supports people with learning disabilities. During the lockdown, Sue worked with colleagues to develop training materials for professionals on how to talk to people with learning disabilities and autism about friendship. This was to meet the need of many learning-disabled people who have struggled with loneliness and maintaining relationships during the pandemic.

Sue will use her grant to tailor these resources for family members of people with learning disabilities, so that they will be better equipped to help their loved ones to engage in safe relationships. Currently, there is nothing like this designed specifically for family members in the UK. The funding will cover a consultation exercise with family carers to identify the most useful approach to engaging them on this topic. Following this, Sue will produce a training pack designed to support parents and carers to communicate positively with their adult children about relationships. Finally, Sue will develop a ‘train the trainer’ course, equipping family members to pass on their knowledge. Sue will provide opportunities for them to connect with each other and hopes this will lead to a national network of interested relatives providing peer support.

Sue’s Fellowship to Canada and the USA in 2019 explored measures to protect learning-disabled adults from sexual abuse.

Jeff McWhinney (CF 2007) from Blackheath in London is a disability rights activist and a leader in the British deaf community.

He will use his grant to produce a video that clearly demonstrates in British Sign Language how to use a webcam, live video calling applications such as Zoom, and static video messaging applications on a variety of devices. Jeff himself found that using a webcam to access BSL interpreters (known as a video relay service – VRS) has enabled him to overcome communication barriers, access more services and stay connected during the pandemic. He hopes the video will enable Deaf people to use this VRS technology, and plans to raise awareness about it amongst public services and organisations across the UK.

Jeff's Fellowship to Australia, New Zealand and the USA in 2007 explored video technology apps and practices to enable sign language interpreting.

Jonathan Vincent (CF 2017) from York is a senior lecturer at York St John University and has spent the last four years researching and addressing the gaps in employment for autistic graduates in the UK, including establishing a participatory training group, PRO Autism, that includes autistic people in the training of employers.

He will use his grant to undertake further research to identify the specific employment needs and experiences of a small but representative cohort of autistic graduates in the UK, in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, and subsequently develop free e-learning materials to support these graduates as they move into the labour market. Depending on needs identified, these might include job-readiness support, guidance for disclosure of diagnosis, or identification of reasonable adjustments. He will then evaluate how the cohort have used the materials and share learnings and resources with the sector across the UK.

Jonathan's Fellowship to Canada and the USA in 2017 explored how to support autistic graduates into employment.