Time for a break away

A Lanarkshire charity organised a weekend break for the families of children with autism.

Reach Autism Lanarkshire, based in Cambuslang, planned the weekend break for over 40 families to Blackpool last week.

The families enjoyed time spent at various attractions including Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the Aquarium and Blackpool Tower.

The aim of the trip was to encourage more members to return to face-toface activities after the Covid-19 pandemic made it harder for some of the children to return to their groups.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “We’re currently focusing on getting everyone back and getting our groups up to capacity, but we took families to Blackpool last week.

“We work with Better Breaks to organise trips. They gave us money last year, but because of Covid it got moved, so we’re using last year’s money to go this year and we planned it from start to finish.

“We had 42 families attending and it was a great opportunity for the families to go together. Our staff went down to support them for two nights as well. It’s a great opportunity for the families because they don’t always get to go away because of how children with autism can be perceived. The families and children feel more comfortable going with people who understand.

“Every family that attended has never got to go with us before. We can help prepare the kids in advance as well, if they need social stories we can do that.

“We explain exactly what will happen and how it will happen and provide as much support and preparation as we can.

“It can be very overwhelming for them and we try to make sure they know what to expect.”

The charity was due to throw a party this year for the charity’s 10th anniversary but it was pushed back to the summer, so families were sent boxes of cakes instead.

The charity is hopeful that they will be able to throw a party during the summer and continue to promote autism.

The spokesperson added: “We’re always promoting acceptance instead of awareness and will continue to do so.”