Guernsey autism charity to lose vital funding

David Harry said since the charity started there has never been any States funding

Autism Guernsey's child services will end in December after the BBC's Children in Need (CiN) rejected its application for continued funding.

The service has been providing support to young people and their families and carers, largely funded by an ongoing grant.

Autism Guernsey is currently supporting 131 children from the ages of five to seventeen.

CiN, which had provided the charity with grants for eight years, said it had to make "some really difficult decisions" when choosing which of its thousands of applicants to fund.

It said: "We receive thousands of funding applications every year from projects across the UK and Channel Islands helping to change young lives.

"Although the public are extremely generous in their support each year, we simply don’t have the money to fund all of the projects that apply to us for grants and we have to make some really difficult decisions."

'A huge blow'

Julia Watts, Autism Guernsey’s services manager, said: "It has been a huge blow and I have no idea how we are going to be able to tell the children that have the one-to-one support."

David Harry, newly appointed chairman of Autism Guernsey, said since the charity started there had never been any States funding and the organisation relied totally on grants, fundraising events and donations.

He added: "Although we are incredibly grateful for the support that we receive the problem with the way Autism Guernsey is funded means that the services are simply not sustainable as we rely entirely on third sector support.

"It is a tenuous situation that not only affects the services we provide to the children and their families, but it also impacts upon the people we employ as it highlights the fragility of our service."

Currently the charity provides four social clubs for different age groups including artwork with an art worker, one to one outreach, and a sensory group.

The charity also runs a popular summer activities project, a teen-life group and a better sleep programme.

One parent of a child supported by Autism Guernsey said: "The charity has always been there for us, from one-to-one support for myself as a mum and for my autistic son.

"The invaluable courses they put on helped me learn to navigate the overwhelming world of being a mum to an autistic child and my son has attended the 'amazing club' for a number of years.

"It was a safe space for children like him and did wonders for his mental health. It was, and still is, the only place where he can socialise happily.

"I haven’t told him the news yet but I know he will take it very badly."