Running the 2025 Adidas Manchester Marathon

Autism Plus is a South Yorkshire based charity which provides specialist care and support for adults and young people with autism, neurodiverse conditions, learning disabilities and mental health conditions.

Autism affects an estimated 700,000 children and adults in the UK. It's common for people to already be in crisis when they first come into contact with Autism Plus. They want to do more to offer support and interventions at earlier stages to provide positive long term impacts. Autism Plus believe this shouldn’t be the ‘norm’ for so many people with autism. With the right support, at the right time people can live happy, independent lives.

A family is currently undergoing the Autism assessment process after years of unsuccessful fighting with their primary schools and missed opportunities address concerns about their behaviour traits which align more and more with traits commonly associated with people who are on the Autistic spectrum. Since starting high school the SEN team have been very supportive and have made more effort to get the help they required despite their behaviour becoming more challenging as their struggles with the adaptation to high school and the onset of puberty.

Their behaviour at home is becoming more challenging towards their family members over the recent months, although challenging they are coping and the assessment process gives hope them that will be able to answers to their questions and help developing strategies and techniques on how to best approach their behaviour.

As a family we have not had to approach Autism Plus for help but as several family members have worked or work in the education sector and have witnessed first hand much more extreme behaviour from children who have or are suspected to have autism we can fully understand and appreciate how beneficial their work could be to both the child in the future and their families now.

Our family love running and currently and the child undergoing the assessment currently does a 28 minute 5k so I figured this would be an appropriate use of or shared  interest, I am raising money for Autism Plus through my self-funded entry into the 2025 Adidas Manchester Marathon. I have neither a fundraising or finishing time goal, my 3 goals are to finish, have a fantastic Marathon debut experience and possibly do so good in the process, anything you can contribute towards helping me achieve my target will be massively appreciated. 

Thank you & see you at the finishing line.