Support for Autistic Adults

Anglo Family on Tong Lane is in the process of setting up a social enterprise, Anglo Social, to employ and support autistic adults as volunteers. Anglo's Simon Macaulay says: “My son, James, is autistic, and I was watching a documentary which stated that 80% of autistic adults were unemployed. One of my fears for James (which I suspect other parents of autistic children will share) is what will happen to him when I die. School provision is good, but what about after he leaves? He is perfectly capable of working – in the right supportive environment.

“Our company is in the flooring industry and I met an amazing woman, Kate Chapell, who set up a social enterprise in Glasgow employing recovering drug addicts as volunteers. They recycle carpet and carpet tiles and the volunteers clean and sort the tiles. They are then sold cheaply to charities or the most needy. This is my model for Anglo Social. We've already had great help from within the industry. Forbo in Preston delivered 7,000 used carpet tiles from the Britannia Building Society Head Office in Leek; Britannia is part of the Co-op and they wanted to help”.

Anglo Social has linked up with Imran Choudhry and Luci Sanderson at STEPS in Rochdale. Imran has a group of autistic adults aged 18-24 and is keen to give them work experience. Anglo has recently taken their first trainee from STEPS – Jodie Younas who is settling into the unit at Anglo. The response from the staff at Anglo has been fantastic and two former employees, Avril Jones and Neil Crook, have volunteered to support the autistic adults in a supervisory role.

Simon is keen to talk to any local families who want to get involved, or anyone working in the social work sector and can advise on outlets for the tiles. He can be contacted on 01706 853 513 or simon.macaulay@anglosocial.org.uk.