We seek to support Autistic people and their families
The SKY Women’s Group held a Bake Off on zoom last Sunday. The theme was ‘Spring cakes’. Five of our amazing young women took part and they all made some fantastic cakes.
It was a really enjoyable afternoon and we are hoping to run another Bake Off soon to make brownies and flapjacks!
In June we shared that Edward had challenged himself to cycle 150 miles to raise money for SKY. We are really pleased to let everyone know that Edward completed his challenge and, in doing so, has raised an amazing £356.235 for SKY!
All of us at SKY are incredibly grateful for Edward’s hard work, and for the help from his parents (Sue and David) in supporting Edward to achieve this goal. We would also like to thank everyone that donated. The money raised will be used to help SKY to continue to run the social groups for young people and adults.
Thank you Edward!!
Joel is a longstanding member of our Tuesday evening social group and has a particular interest in railways. All of us at SKY are amazed at the challenge that Joel set himself of trying to visit all the railway stations in Britain!
Joel says:
“The main aim of my rail trips is to visit all the railway stations in Britain. This includes National Rail, Light Rail and Tram stations/stops. All these combined add up to over 3000 stations of which many only get a few services a day.
To count a station or stop as visited I have to board AND alight from a rail service at each station from a rail services (walking between stations or bus replacements do not count). So far, I have visited just over 1500 in total (just over half) since starting in 2018. Of the stations I have visited so far my favourite is Chapelton, a request stop in Devon.
As well as stations I also am trying to cross off every section of track by travelling over it and also trying to travel on every piece of rolling stock, which is harder to plan as this can be changed just minutes before sometimes. My favourite train to travel on it the class 390 Pendolino. I take photos of every station I visit and every train/engine I travel on.”
Joel has been kind enough to share some of his favourite photos of his trips with us.
We feel privileged to have received this lovely message from the Lord-Lieutenant of Worcester, Lt Col Patrick Holcroft LVO OBE, in response to the support SKY has provided for group members during Covid-19.
Update: Edward has continued with his challenge and has now completed 253.2km – exceeding his goal of 240km (150 miles)! Well done Edward!
Thank you to everyone that has donated – all of us at SKY are incredibly grateful as every donation will help us to continue to support our group members at this challenging time.
We will provide a final update on Edward’s fundraising total soon!
Edward (son of Sue and David Higgs, who have been members of SKY since the early days) has been challenged by his school to raise £100 during June/July for a charity of his choice.
Edward has decided he wishes to support SKY and has challenged himself to cycle 150 miles (240km) during this time. So far, Edward has cycled 49.36 km and is therefore well on the way towards his target. We will be providing an update on how far Ed has cycled each week so watch this space!
As SKY doesn’t yet have a Justgiving account or equivalent, if you or anyone you know would like to sponsor Edward, you may wish to make a direct bank transfer to the Charity’s bank account:
Account name: Special Kind of Youth
Sort code: 53-81-33
Account number: 85597074
If you do decide to do this, please add reference “Ed Cycle” to your donation.
If relevant and if you have time, to enable SKY to claim gift aid on your donation, please email Sue Higgs at davidandsuehiggs@gmail.com with the following details, which she will add to the Sponsorship and Gift Aid declaration form:
Your full name:
Your home address including postcode:
Donation amount:
Date paid:
If you can gift aid, this will help us to get an extra 25% on top of your donation. So for every £1 you donate, we will get an extra 25p from HMRC for no extra cost to you. For a donation of £10, this is £2.50!
IMPORTANT: To be able to claim gift aid, you need to be able to confirm that you are a UK Income or Capital Gains Taxpayer for this tax year 2020/21.
Please feel free to share this message with others you know.
Good luck Edward – and thank you from all of us at SKY!!
Rosie is a member of our Women’s group and has given us permission to share some of her wonderful poetry. We think it is so important to share the creative skills of our group members and to learn more about how their creativity helps them within their lives.
All of us at SKY feel proud to have such talented individuals in our groups!
Rosie is a twenty one year old woman, she uses poetry and other creative writing as a means to express her anxiety and other emotions. Communicating through writing gives Rosie a way to connect with those who have similar interests and may also experience anxiety and other barriers. Rosie finds that writing helps to relax her and acts as a way to release stress.
Nature Poems
Spring in Malvern
Exploring the peaceful environment, the only noise is that of the individual songs of wildlife creatures. The breeze whistling through the trees and rustling through the plant life. Slowly walking through nature looking at the bluebell meadow, in the far distance the farmer’s deep golden fields stand amongst the green patchwork of endless countryside that runs on for miles. The gentle breeze cools me from the spring sun.
The Spider
Spindly legs that look like fine strands of hair, a small framed body that looks like a clump of dust. Fast moving, scuttling across the room, the world’s finest gymnast. It scrambles away from the big predator eyes, seamlessly slipping into shadow, into safety where it watches the world go by.
The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye
The sky is filled with brooding ever present dark granite clouds, that loom over the swirling green sea of grasses. Small termite mounds like pyramids rise above the ground covered in silky pale grass, shaping this serene landscape. I stand there huddled in my waterproof coat as I try to stay warm against the stream of cool air that passes through me.
