Appeal for staff donations for local charity

Sheena Jack retired from the University last year in order to help look after her grandson Aidan, who suffers from a severe Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with associated learning disabilities and hyperactivity.

ASD is a lifelong condition where individuals have difficulty relating to other people and making sense of social interactions; difficulty processing language and making sense of everyday communication; a fixation with stereotypical activities, and minimal ability to think imaginatively.

Six year old Aidan attends Kingspark School and attends an after school club run by the Dundee branch of the National Autistic Society. Sheena explains, "The club hires space from a local church, but it is also used by other agencies. Finances are precarious, with the club constantly struggling for the means to continue. Staff are continually running raffles, sales of work and other activities in their own time, and the council have given some help, but there is never enough funding to guarantee a future for more than three months at a time."

Aidan's after school club provides a safe and secure environment where children can play. As the autistic spectrum covers a very wide range of abilities, the club caters for 4-14 year-olds at all levels, from those with severe and complex difficulties to children who have met all their developmental milestones but need guidance and support to learn to communicate and interact appropriately with others. Another club caters for 8-12 year-olds with ASD, helping to promote their social skills. An evening club for teenagers with Asperger's Syndrome aims to include the young people in age-appropriate activities in the community.

Sheena adds, "Some of the children will do well with appropriate encouragement and teaching, whilst others, like Aidan, have a long struggle ahead of them, and will always need a high level of support. As children with ASD are often very attractive and have no obvious physical disability, it can be very difficult for those who have no knowledge of the autism to appreciate just how challenging this lifelong disorder can be, and how alien the world can appear to those with the condition.

"The organisers of the clubs have real ambitions and dreams of how much more they could achieve if secure funding became available."

Sheena is asking University staff if they would consider donating, as payroll Gift Aid, a monthly sum, to help maintain and develop the club. The Inland Revenue will donate an extra 25% to all payroll donations given under Gift Aid rules. She said, "As little as £1 a month would help. The more people who become involved, the more chance we have of sustaining this vital service for many families in Dundee, many of whom struggle with very little support from other agencies."

If you would like to set up a payment contact Payroll Manager Harriet Johnston on extension 5595, email h.m.johnston@dundee.ac.uk