To inspire greater understanding, acceptance & integration.
Jay's story
"It is my dearest wish to keep the momentum for autism awareness going, with the kind and continuous support of the trustees there will be no stopping us"Jay Ingle - Chair
My personal story started late 2006, when our younger son was two and a half years old. It became apparent he was no longer talking and noticed that whilst he made eye contact with my husband and I, he was no longer making it to most other people. The next chapter was to take three and a half years before we had a confirmed diagnosis of Autism.
During those three and a half years our son started school. He is such a kind, obliging, conscientious child, who is eager to please. However, he struggles to cope with the volume of people, requests and noise of the classroom. Therefore, each day he would cry silent tears for two years. As a parent this was heart wrenching.
Our son now attends Holbrook School for Autism in Derbyshire and the transformation has been nothing short of fantastic. He is content, which is due to the effort the school have put in.
Holbrook School for Autism
provide each student with their own curriculum, specifically catering for their own needs and issues. Each class has six or seven pupils, with one teacher and several assistants, so there is a high ratio of teachers to pupils, ensuring each child is supported to achieve their best potential.
My first step into fundraising was 2011, with an event celebrating the royal wedding of Prince William & Kate Middleton, hosting a Village Fete at our local pub with all the classic family games. This raised £1,000.
It was so popular everyone asked me to do something similar for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. This time raising £1800.
In 2013 I hosted a ‘Pop in for Breakfast’ on my son's birthday. This raised £550 and was such fun people were still there at tea time!
In 2014 it felt important to join the global Light It Blue
campaign to raise awareness of Autism and we lit Derby Cathedral blue. The response was so great that we repeated it in 2015 and 2016. This created a lot of awareness, thanks to coverage by Radio Derby, Derby Telegraph & BBC Local News. These events were funded by golf days, marathon run sponsorship & our family friend Freddie Meyer, putting on his singing and dancing shows.
In 2017 we wanted to raise funds for Holbrook School for Autism by hosting the Light It Blue Ball, which was a fantastic success and raised £8800 which resulted in setting up this charity.
It is my dearest wish to keep the momentum for autism awareness going and with the kind and continuous support of the trustees there will be no stopping us.
