Polly Tommey, a mother from London with a son with autism and Founder of The Autism Trust will be opening Polly’s Place in Sunninghill, Ascot as the charity’s first retail, training and administrative facility on Friday 5th October 2012.

Polly Tommey set up The Autism Trust in 2006 to support the creation of a better future with real purpose for children everywhere with autism as her son Billy, approached his teenage years with very uncertain prospects for his own future.

Polly’s Place is an exciting new shop that has been developed as a social enterprise to help people with autism lead more fulfilling and rewarding lives. The retail training shop will provide both customer-­‐facing and administrative experiences whilst showcasing artistic talents of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Many vulnerable young adults with autism live at home, so Polly’s Place will promote home working and individual creativity as a recognisable and important contributor to the local economies of the UK encouraging high quality homemade/handmade products created through artisan skill to be celebrated.

At the very centre of all activities undertaken by The Autism Trust is the concept of “Wellbeing”. It is the core “mantra” of the organisation, the wellbeing of any person involved with the Trust is key. It is about identifying when a person with Autism is becoming stressed and giving them “time-­‐out or a calm down break”. It is also about providing a range of strategies that will help the individual learn to cope with difficult situations.

A parallel programme: ‘AH-­‐HA’ (Autistic Helping Hands in Ascot), will also be started by The Autism Trust in October to provide services for the local community. Initial projects will include garden tidying and maintenance to members of the local elderly at-­‐home population.