Goodbye 2018
While the Christmas period may be in full swing, no-one at the Sycamore Trust is resting on their laurels as we look forward to a busy and exciting year ahead.
The past twelve months has been full of challenges and achievements and we're looking forward to more of the same in 2019. Over the past year, we were disappointed to lose the youth clubs in Rainham and Romford, but we were thrilled by the success of projects like SWAP and SPACE. The new Speak With A Picture programme has been a huge success we're already planning for the new term. The SPACE project celebrated success at the B&D Chamber of Commerce in July and finished the year strongly with two young men starting work at Joe's Place, the new restaurant in Romford.
Once again, Stubbers week left everyone exhilarated and exhausted, and we welcomed new groups at the Autism Hub for girls and young adults as well as the new Wednesday group at our premises in Dagenham. Our other clubs and groups continued to thrive and we saw increased interest in some of our other services, such as the Autism Law Clinic and Support Work.
In addition, we celebrated further funding for the wonderful Parenting Pathways scheme and we have a new youth project to look forward to, thanks to the Mayor of London's Young Londoners Fund. As the year came to an end, we saw the installation of a Calm Lane at the LIberty Centre, encouraging people to be more aware of hidden disabilities.
The pace in the new year will be just as frantic as the new youth project gets under way and Parenting Pathways will be re-launched. On top of that, we have our Dare to be Different campaign, aimed at raising awareness of our work and the services we provide, and autism in general. We're hoping to raise a few quid as well!
The central theme of Dare to be Different is that being autistic isn't strange or wrong, it's just a different version of what we are used to. By doing this, we’re hoping that people will understand Autism Spectrum Disorder a bit more and maybe be more sympathetic towards people who are a bit different to the conventional idea of normal. Please join in and spread the word to friends and family, schools and businesses!
If that wasn't enough, we're also looking ahead to 2019 as the 25th anniversary of the Sycanmore Trust UK. The organisation began as Parents of Autistic Children together in the mid 90's and we've achieved so much since then, so it's only right that we celebrate the journey that we have been on, whilst at the same time looking ahead to the challenges that we face going forward.
We'd like wish all our young people, families, adults, supporters, volunteers, sponsors, funders, staff and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2019!!
Please note that the Sycamore Trust UK offices in Dagenham and Autism Hub in Romford will be closed for the Christmas period. We re-open on 2nd January 2019