Funding for Autism/Asperger’s Peer Support and Friendship Groups
Community Partnerships is inviting organisations to apply for funding to develop
new/innovative peer support and friendship groups for adults with autism.
Autism is a lifelong, developmental condition that affects the way a person communicates,
interacts and processes information. The autism spectrum refers to the range of ways the
condition presents in an individual which can vary greatly from person to person and
throughout their life. People with autism may also have a learning disability but it can also
affect people of average to high intellectual ability.
Outline
In order to support adults with autism, an opportunity has arisen for existing and new
organisations to put forward proposals to develop peer support and friendship groups
across Kirklees (this could also include support for carers). These could focus on a specific
activity or a range of activities to give people a taster of what is possible. We want to
focus/target adults with high function autism/aspergers as we recognise there are very few
community organisations offering support.
The proposals must meet the following aims:
Aims
 Identify adults with autism in the community
 Facilitate bringing adults with autism together in a group
 Set up at least two peer support/friendship groups as a minimum (one in
Huddersfield/one in Dewsbury or Batley)
 To provide peer support/friendship groups/social opportunities which help people to
cope with their condition and enable them to make friends with people in a similar
situation
 To link in with a pilot autism brokerage project in Kirklees run by an Autism charity
 To link in with the relevant Council/CCG Commissioning Manager to identify need
and support the further development of the market in Kirklees
 Identify barriers to community inclusion for people with autism and work with the
council to challenge them.
Outcomes
 Improved well-being, mental and physical health
 Reduce loneliness / isolation
 Improved social interaction and access to friendship/peer support
 Access to wider information
 Signpost people to other appropriate community groups and/or services
 Help to build a picture of what services people in Kirklees with autism would like to
access
Evaluation
The successful organisation will be expected to complete twice yearly monitoring and a final
evaluation report at the end of the project.
Please submit the attached Expression of Interest (EOI) by 22nd Dec 2014
Grants available
Organisations can apply for up to £20,000 per year for up to 3 years – we would expect to
see a taper of the funding request based on the development work which will be crucial in
year 1 to get these groups established. Community Partnerships places a lot of focus on
group sustainability and community contribution; please read the online investment
guidance carefully and contact us if you have any questions.
Please Note: Expressions of Interest are invited from organisations who meet at least some
of the above stated project aims and objectives however, to apply you must be a
constituted community group as a minimum and be prepared to go through the Council’s
GAP (Grant Access Point) process. For more details on the grants available please visit
www.kirklees.gov.uk/communitypartnerships webpage or contact the team on
community.partnerships@kirklees.gov.uk and/or telephone number 01484 225142.