Autism charity wins youth participation grant

The grant, awarded through the Department of Health’s £1.6m Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund, will support the development of the charity’s myVoice project.

The project, due to launch on 1 August, is designed to help young people with autism to have a greater influence over the services they access.

As part of this, Ambitious about Autism will encourage young people to volunteer to be part of local services’ governing bodies.

They will also be encouraged to assess and review their local health, social care and education services, providing feedback on how effective they are.

In addition, the charity will develop an online peer-to-peer support network where young people will be able to discuss and co-produce information on a range of issues.

Ambitious about Autism is one of 11 organisations receiving a share of the funding, which was launched by care minister Norman Lamb as part of efforts to encourage volunteering in the health and social care sector.

Announcing the funding, he said: “Volunteers and community projects make a difference to millions of people’s lives and help us to build a fairer society.

“These projects play a crucial role in supporting people, their families and carers.

“They are examples of just some of the excellent and innovative work going on throughout the country in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector – all of which help to create and support strong and resilient communities.”

Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, added: “We are delighted that the Department of Health is generously funding our myVoice project.

“Through the project, young volunteers with autism will be able to have a direct influence on the services they access.”