Press release (11) - DVSC’s #AutismAwareness Campaign inspires community led action throughout Denbi

Christmas has definitely arrived early for six local groups who were lucky enough to be picked to receive grants to fund their local community Autism Aware projects.

We recently ran the Autism Awareness Community Grant programme for grants between £1,500 and £3,000 as part of our #AutismAwareAutumn Programme. You can read the original press release by clicking here.

Helen Wilkinson, DVSC’s Chief Executive explained: “We were inundated with applications of a very high standard from some fantastic local voluntary and community groups and third sector organisations. It would have been lovely to have funded all of them but unfortunately it was a fixed funding lot.”

We are delighted to announce the award winners including a description of how they plan to support engagement activity in the DVSC’s Autism Awareness Community Engagement campaign over the coming months. So in no particular order they are:-

Karma Wellbeing - provide vibro-acoustic sound wave therapy sessions within the community of Denbighshire to:

Parents/Adult Carers (with an emphasis on male carers)
Young adults with a diagnosis of ASD
Young carers & siblings

Contact - Lyn Siebenmann

Telephone – 07985 556 994

Email – lyn.karma@outlook.com

Denbigh Men’s Shed – will offer an informed, inclusive community space in which

individuals from the Autism / ASD Community can come to engage in positive creative activities, learn new skills, socialise and enhance their well-being. Providing a range of supported therapeutic sessions in arts & crafts, woodworking and

furniture design, gardening & landscaping.

Contact – Nathan Sarea

Telephone – 07712 210019

Email – denbighmensshed@gmail.com

STAND North Wales – will provide 3 two hour workshops in the Llangollen, Denbigh and Rhyl areas. The workshops will consist of craft activities where young adults can come along and participate in a range of activities, such as glass painting, ceramic painting and canvas art.

Contact – Sarah McCulloch

Telephone – 07749 998 708

Email – sarah@standnw.org.uk

Bedford Street Community Company – are going to run 2 courses that will be specifically for those on the Autism spectrum who wish to improve their employability, with specific assistance tailored to participants requirements. This

could include; CV’s application forms, interview techniques, building confidence and tackling barriers to employment.

Contact – Fiona Davies

Telephone – 01745 339 779

Email – forydcentre@hotmail.co.uk

Llanbedr Village Hall Management Committee will be running a series of craft related workshops to adults with Autism. These will include printing, ceramics, digital arts and lots more. The workshops will offer the clients a sense of achievement and pride in a friendly warm environment, working at their own pace in an easy to understand manner.

Contact – Ron Bell

Telephone – 01824 705 250

Email – ronbell1500@gmail.com

Pentredwr Community Association - are going to run a twice monthly autism friendly

“maker day”. This will take place from 10am till 4pm on a week day and will be an opportunity for anyone to come and make use of the space the old school provides for hobbies and projects including painting and model making and playing board games.

Contact – Ticky Lowe

Telephone – 01978 861 946

Email – ticky_lowe@hotmail.com

Further resources can be found at DVSC and the ‘Can you see me’ campaign.

As part of our campaign and awareness raising DVSC will be hosting three outreach events to showcase the digital information available and the great work and initiatives being enabled through DVSC’s #Autism Aware Community Grant programme. More details and dates will be available in the New Year! Please come along or drop into our office.

In the meantime if you want to support and raise awareness about our

#AutismAwareness campaign, follow us on twitter @DVSC_Wales Instagram and like our facebook page.

DVSC is also co-producing and co-delivering a second Enhanced Autism AwarenessTaster Sessions.

The first session ran in November and proved to be extremely popular and was booked up almost immediately, with 14 beneficiaries’ in attendance. Lyn Siebenmann from Karma Wellbeing said “I have learnt some new traits about Autism that I didn’t know”

The next session is running on Wednesday 13th March 2019, 10am-12pm at our community hub, the Naylor Leyland Centre, Well Street, Ruthin, LL15 1AF. It is FREE to our members, voluntary and community groups, volunteers, parents, carers and members of the public on a first come, first served basis.

Please book your FREE place via Eventbrite by following the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/autism-awareness-training-session-tickets-53541329558. Or call the office on 01824 702335 and ask for Debbie if you would like to attend.

Notes to Editors

Press release for immediate release

About DVSC

Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council, DVSC, the County Voluntary Council operating in Denbighshire. Our mission is to build resilient communities through voluntary action, and social enterprise, provide excellent support for our members and to be an influential voice in Denbighshire and North Wales.

DVSC works closely with North Wales CVCs, and is a member of the Wales-wide network of CVCs which in partnership with the Wales Council of Voluntary Associations (WCVA) forms the partnership that makes up Third Sector Support Wales.

About the #AutismAware Campaign

DVSC ran a successful #AutismAwareness engagement and fund distribution campaign in March 2018 with the previous Integrated Autism Service (IAS) funding. Following on from this DVSC was successful in gaining further funding to build on this with scaled up activity in 2018-2019 which is enabling enhanced service delivery to coordinate awareness raising events, training and outreach to the communities of Denbighshire underpinned by a social media engagement campaign.

Now we are launching our #AutismAwareWinter Community Engagement campaign, involving social media and physical outreach, enhancing and developing the scope and information made available with the previous funding.

For further information contact Helen Wilkinson, DVSC’s Chief Executive, helenw@dvsc.co.uk 01824 702 441 or 07713 997 075 or Julie Pierce, Marketing and Engagement Officer on 01824 709321, Email julie@dvsc.co.uk

To make sure you are kept up to date when funding opportunities are available make sure to subscribe to our mailing list by following the link - Subscribe for News Updates & Bulletins.