Our Christmas Festivitea! 3rd December 2011

Here's where you can find out all about how we got on at our Christmas Festivitea!

On 3rd December, we took over the main hall of the United Reformed Church once again, and filled it with lots of Christmassy fun ...


Some of the prizes in our new Advent Calendar game ...


More prizes ...


The game itself!


We had our ever-popular Lucky Dip


And we had our 'Guess How Many Sweets in the Santa Hat' game, and 'Guess Santa's Name' game


We had our hand-crafted grotto ready for Waveney Football Club's Roary to give out presents


And our tombola!


Our well-stocked bric-a-brac stall


Beautiful hand-made jewellery stall


And beautiful hand-made crafts stall


The letterbox was all ready to receive letters to Santa


And our autism awareness and information area was ready


Our raffle, organised by Robert and Julie N

And now, all we needed were our guests!

Funtastic Futures joined us to kick off our Festivitea in style with some Christmas carols ...




Guests made a beeline for our cake stall!


Our friend Ian entertained us with some carols and folk tunes


Ian and our Branch Officer, Jayne


Ian, joined by our Media Secretary, Rebecca and our friend Margaret, for some carol singing


Roary Waveney with his Elf, Branch Librarian, Juliet


Busy!


Roary Waveney was a big hit with all the children!




Our friend Jim also entertained us with some folk songs


Before being joined by our Media Secretary, Rebecca, for a carol or two


Our local MP, Peter Aldous, enjoying the Festivitea with our Regional Officer, Beverley

We had a fantastic time at our Festivitea, spreading lots of Christmas cheer, meeting new people, raising awareness of autism spectrum disorders, and raising £303 for our local branch!

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on the day and helped us to make the event such a success!

Our Christmas FestiviTEA

I'm sure you all remember what a fantastic time we had at our Christmas Fayre and Branch Re-Launch last year ...





Well, not wanting to miss out on all the fun again this year, we are very pleased to announce that we will be holding our Christmas FestiviTEA on 3rd December!



The FestiviTEA will take place at the same location as last time, the United Reformed Church on London Road North (opposite Poundstretchers) and will run from 11 am to 2 pm.

We have got lots of fun things planned for the day, including:

*Singers and musicians outside the church at various times during the event
*A great raffle with lots of prizes
*Games, Christmas quizzes, competitions and activities for children
*A cake stall piled high with delicious cakes
*Tea & Coffee
*A bric-a-brac stall selling lots of items such as handmade soaps, Santa keys, reindeer food and NAS Christmas cards
*A handmade jewellery stall
*A handmade crafts stall
*A well-stocked tombola

And ... from 12:00 midday to 1:00 pm, Roary the tiger from Waveney Football Club will be giving out presents to all the good girls and boys, ably assisted by his Christmas Elf!

So why not come along and do some Christmas shopping, have some fun, and get into the Christmas spirit!

Hope to see you there!

Our First Stay & Play Session at Mayhem!

A great time was had by all at the very first Stay & Play session at Mayhem Adventure Play in the East Point Pavilion!

The adults got together for a good old natter, while the kids burned off lots of energy on the play equipment and made new friends!











Our November Stay & Play session went really well as well, so why not come along and join the fun next time!

Our next Stay & Play session is on 16th December at Mayhem. It's the last day of term, so why not come along and kick off the Christmas Holidays in style!

Please remember, the maximum age is 12 years, and the maximum height is 1.45 m. There is a suggested donation of £2 per child.

Hope to see you at our next play session!

Asperger Syndrome Workshop

Asperger East Anglia is running an Asperger Syndrome Workshop, called 'An Introduction to Asperger Syndrome (AS) and related Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD)' .

It will be held at the St Johns Housing Trust at 28 Gordon Road, Lowestoft, on Wednesday 2nd November from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The delegate fee is £30, with £20 for concessions.

This half-day workshop will provide a valuable insight into AS and is designed for professionals and families affected by AS/ASD's and adults with an ASD.

The workshop will include a presentation on Asperger Syndrome, a case study, and a Questions and Answers session.

To apply (or for more information) please send a cheque for £30 payable to 'Asperger East Anglia' and post to:

Gordon Keable
Asperger East Anglia
Charing Cross Centre
17-19 St Johnmaddermarket
Norwich
NR2 1DN

Free Autism Resource Session

We received the following information from Autism Suffolk:

Dear Parents and Carers

Are you struggling with toileting, early morning routines, bedtimes, and so on? Visual supports likes timetables, social stories and schedules can really help.

Come along to our free Autism Resource Session

What’s that?
You can make timetables, social stories, schedules etc. for your child with the help of our Family Support Workers. We provide the materials. You take home what you’ve made. No skill needed!

Where is it?
Autism Suffolk office,3 Grange Business Centre, Tommy Flowers Drive, Kesgrave, Suffolk, IP5 2BY

When?
Thursday 3 November 2011, 10—2 (no need to stay for the whole session)

Who can come?
Parents and carers of children with an ASD
Places will be allocated to the first 12 people to book

To book or to find out more, contact Autism Suffolk on 01473 632700 or E-mail: autism.suffolk@nas.org.uk

World Mental Health Day

In order to do our bit to raise awareness of the difficulties encountered and endured by those with ASDs in reference to World Mental Health Awareness day, the following letter by our Branch Officer has been sent to our local papers:

With World Mental Health Day fast approaching (10th October), I thought it necessary to highlight how many people with autism are needlessly developing mental health problems through a lack of support. Research by the National Autistic Society (NAS) found that 63% of adults with autism do not have enough support to meet their needs. Two thirds of these (67%) say they have experienced anxiety due to a lack of support and one third (33%) say they have experienced serious mental health problems.

The Government cannot afford to ignore the dramatic cost benefits of investing in autism services in the long-term. Not only would the right support at the right time prevent thousands of people with autism from developing mental health problems, it could also save the Government millions, if not billions, each year.

Jayne Page
Branch Officer, NAS Lowestoft and North Suffolk

Stay And Play is BACK!

We are very pleased to announce that starting in October, we will be holding monthly play sessions at Lowestoft's own Mayhem Adventure Play for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and for their siblings!

You may remember that earlier this year, we had some sessions at Adventure Island soft play area, which were very much enjoyed by all who attended; but from October, we will be able to offer places at a monthly play session at Mayhem Adventure Play on Lowestoft sea front!

It's a much more central location, with good bus links (car parking is available in the pay and display car park next to the building), and we will be able to hold our sessions on a Friday afternoon, rather than a Monday evening, which will kick off the weekend in fine style!

So for a suggested donation of just £2 per child, we will be able to welcome children aged 12 years and under, with a maximum height of 1.45 metres, for what will surely be a very fun play session!

The sessions will run from 4 pm to 5 pm, and will be held between October and March. During the Summer months, there are lots of outdoor activities going on, and so indoor soft play is less likely to be needed; and also during the Summer, Mayhem are sometimes required to shut at short notice due to high temperatures within the building. So, in order to avoid having the sessions cancelled with little time to notify those who would like to attend, we have decided to run the sessions between October and March, when the weather is cooler.

And so our first play session at Mayhem will take place on 21st October, between 4 pm and 5 pm!

We hope to see you there for an hour of fun and frolics!

Our First South-Side Drop-In Group!

Tuesday 20th September found our Treasurer Amber, our PR Officer Rachel, and our Media Secretary Rebecca at this lovely place for the afternoon ...



We were there at the Whitton Life Cafe, on Whitton Green, from midday to 2:00 pm, talking to local parents and carers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, making new friends and lending a listening ear. We talked about education, behaviour, parenting, and swapped experiences and tips with each other.



As you can see, we were lovely and comfy, curled up on our sofas, in the lovely, bright, airy room, chatting away the hours, sipping hot drinks and munching on biscuits.



The drop in dates are listed on the side of the page, for both our North and South Lowestoft drop in support group sessions, as well as being in each edition of our branch newsletter, and on our Facebook page; so, next time, if you're in the area and you care for someone with an ASD, why don't you drop in and join us!

We'd love to see you there!

Our Picnic In The Park (aka Our August Drop In Support Group)

For the first time ever, we decided this year to have a drop in support group session in August! Parents need support during the holidays too!

But as we'd all have our children with us, we decided to meet up at Sparrows Nest Park, where the kids could make friends and play, while we parents curled up on our picnic rugs and chatted.

The weather was beautiful, and we all had a great time together ...






Louise from Activities Unlimited joined us for the afternoon















We shared a lovely afternoon together at the park in the sun!

Next month, we'll be back to our standard drop in location in North Lowestoft, The Ark Childrens Centre, on 13th September; and we'll be opening up our new support group in South Lowestoft at the Whitton Life Centre on 20th September. Hope to see you there!