Autism services set for cuts as charity loses key funding
More than 100 children and their families could lose much-needed support after the local charity which helps them with their autism announced that it was losing critical funding.
Autism Guernsey has been backed by BBC Children in Need for the past eight years.
But it was told last week that it was going to lose that funding.
‘Failure to secure this annual grant will have a negative impact on the charity and our ability to continue helping those who currently rely upon us,’ said Julia Watts, the charity’s services manager. ‘I feel saddened but also responsible as head of service for letting so many people down as we get over 1,000 contacts a year.
‘It has been a huge blow and I have no idea how we are going to be able to tell the children that the one-to-one support and the clubs which help them so much will be among the things we will no longer be able to provide.’
David Harry, the new chairman of the charity, who took up his role only at the beginning of the month, said that families of service users were told the news at the end of last week that its services could stop at the end of the year.
‘We have had a lot of responses from the families on our books on Friday, and from that, you can see how invaluable our services are,’ Mr Harry said.
About 50 people had responded to the news, many of them deeply upset, he said.
One mum, who did not want to be named, said that Autism Guernsey had stepped up for her when she felt that the States had let her down over her son’s condition.
‘The charity has always been there for us, from one-to-one support for myself as a mum and for my autistic son,’ she said.
‘The invaluable courses they put on helped me learn to navigate the overwhelming world of being a mum to an autistic child and my son has attended the Amazing Club for a number of years – It was a safe space for children like him and did wonders for his mental health.
‘It was, and still is, the only place where he can socialise happily. I haven’t told him the news yet but I know he will take it very badly.’
Autism Guernsey is currently supporting 131 children from the ages of five to 17, alongside another 260 parents and carers.
Established in 2012, it has never received any funding from the States and has relied on third sector grants and fundraising events and donations.
The Health and Social Care Committee declined an opportunity to comment.
