Group’s cafe fundraiser is a piece of cake
Autism Group raise £807 towards activities
THE LOCHABER Autism Support Group ( LASG) raised £ 807.78 by holding a coffee morning in the café in Fort William Railway Station on Sunday (Aug 14).
This is the third annual coffee morning the group has held to raise funds for trips and treats for the children.
The group is made up of parents of autistic children. There are currently 17 children in the group, nine of whom are on the autistic spectrum. The other children are their siblings.
The group meets on the morning of the first Saturday of every month in the Salvation Hall for the children to play and learn new social skills while the parents can have a cup of tea and chat with others parents in a similar situation. Amie Wallace, chairperson of the support group said: ‘ We have a coffee morning once a year. The café doesn’t open on a Sunday so we get to use it. Dave and Brian who run it are very good to let us take over.
‘ The money raised goes towards buying stuff for the children or to take them on trips that they wouldn’t normally get to do as it can be quite difficult.
‘ We also have sensory equipment for them.
‘ We all run the support group together, there’s no input from professionals, we do it all ourselves.’
Father Donald MacKinnon of St Mary’s church encouraged his parishioners to donate the price of a cup of coffee if they were unable to attend on the day. The church raised £124.52 towards the total which the group are very grateful for.
Every year the local branch of McDonalds choses a local charity to support, and in the last year they chose to help the Autism Support Group.
Mrs Wallace said: ‘ We were very lucky to have McDonald’s support; they ran a raffle for us.’
The group are looking to taking the children on a trip on the steam train and also trying to get instruments for music therapy.
They are always on the lookout for new members and for activities to help the children and for them to enjoy.
For further information visit the LASG Facebook page.