An organisation that aims to promote understanding and acceptance of autistic people in Cornwall has been awarded £10,000 funding.

The Autistic Community of Cornwall CIC has received the funding from the National Lottery, which will be used to support the development of events, advice, advocacy and peer support for autistic people throughout the county. 

The community based social enterprise is growing rapidly after being established in 2022 by autistic professionals in the NHS, Ian Hutchinson, Marie Ralph, Tigger Pritchard and David Kirwan.

The funding has been awarded towards its “autistic experience” programme which provides training across various sectors from a unique autistic perspective.

Ian said: “This is something that is often omitted in autism training programmes. Part of our delivery encompasses a “human library” of autistic people to ensure that training shows all facets of autism and the daily challenges that autistic people face.”

The Autistic Community of Cornwall also provides input at national and local steering groups for service delivery and a very popular peer to peer mentorship programme called the autistic navigator programme which enables autistic people to talk through life issues with another autistic person that many feel is the most therapeutic intervention in their lives.

The first autistic member meet was held yesterday. 

The Autistic Community of Cornwall is seeking donations and business sponsorships to increase delivery of their programmes across the county. 

 • Anyone who would like to help can contact [email protected] or visit the website www.theautisticcommunityof cornwall.org / facebook page (the autistic community of cornwall facebook page) for more info.