Lochaber autism charity closes

IT WAS a day of ‘mixed emotions’ on Monday as a Lochaber charity aimed at supporting young people with autism and other communication disabilities closed after three years.

Fort William-based Active Health Achieving Futures (AHA Futures), which helped 15-to20-year-olds with autism or a similar communication disability, ended this week after its funding stopped.

Launched in 2016, the charity aimed to support young people and their families in transition from leaving school to adult life and provided them with a range of experiences, which included running a community shop in Ardgour and operating a cafe at the Lochaber Rural Complex.

Lynn MacAllister, of the AHA Futures project, said: ‘For most of the young people, this was their first experience of staying away from family and offered much-needed respite for families constantly in a caring role.

‘Friendships from school have been maintained and staff have developed close bonds with families and each other. For me personally, the best thing has been watching friendships develop and blossom and the hope for some of the young people if possible to move on to employment where they can earn money and feel good about themselves.’

The project was initiated through a partnership between the Highland Council, NHS Highland and a number of third sector and voluntary partners, who awarded £25,000 of funding for a three-year spell.