Main fundraiser photo

Autistic Mutual Aid Fund

These are tough times, with most of us reeling from the impact of Coronavirus. And with businesses, schools, and universities closing their physical premises, the supermarket shelves emptying, and plans being cancelled, we're facing a disturbing present, and an uncertain future.

And for some members of our autistic community, the future is particularly daunting.

Many autistic people work as self-employed speakers, trainers, and other forms of autistic advocate. They perform a role that benefits all of us - autistic people, parents/carers, teachers, and health and social care professionals; and all who love and care for autistic people.
But with conferences and events being cancelled, and schools and other venues closing as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 emergency, they are facing a devastating cut in their livelihoods.

And we want to do anything we can to 'give back' to these members of our community.

So, we're setting up a fund - The Autistic Mutual Aid Fund - with the aim of making life just a bit easier for our autistic advocates at this challenging time [Please note that the organisers of the Fund will not be eligible to claim from it]. 

*** Applications to the Fund are made by completing this brief Survey here.  ***
[Click on 'here' to access survey].

Here is some information about the Fund:

Who/what is the Fund for?

The Autistic Mutual Aid Fund is for autistic people who are self-employed, working in the field of autism advocacy (broadly defined), who are facing significant financial losses as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and its impact.

It is intended to provide a 'Helping Hand' - covering relatively small, discreet costs incurred by people in this position. It is NOT intended to replace all, or most of the income lost; or to cover all of the outgoings of self-employed autistic advocates - a)because this is the role of the government; and b) because the fund is likely to be quite small-scale, and capable of making only small discretionary grants.

Examples of things that may be covered by grants from the Fund include, but are not limited to:

Costs of taxi travel where travel on public transport is not possible for either autism- or virus-related reasons; costs of equipment or software etc to move business online, and advertise new services; contributions to specific household/utility bills; costs related to maintaining autistic equilibrium in challenging times (e.g. purchasing specific groceries for restrictive diet, purchasing/replacing stim toys, replacing specific toiletries, or other sensory-related products that run out during period of income-loss.

We aim, at least initially, to focus the Fund on the UK. But we are keen to support, and work with people in other countries to help them set up Funds for their own communities - through practical advice and signal-boosting.

All requests will be considered at the Organisers' discretion.

More about the Fund:

At the current time, it is uncertain how many donations the Fund will attract, and over what period of time. If the Fund proves self-sustaining, it is possible that there will be scope to continue it beyond the period of the COVID-19 outbreak, and perhaps to broaden its scope. 

Given the level of current uncertainty, it is possible that other, larger funds may emerge, with overlapping aims to this one. In such circumstances, the organisers retain the right to close the Autistic Mutual Aid Fund, and to donate any remaining balance of donations to the similar, larger Fund. 
All applications to the Autistic Mutual Aid Fund will be considered by the Organisers (Gillian Loomes and Shona Murphy), and granted at our discretion. Nothing in this publicity, or in the application survey, constitute an offer of a grant. 

The maximum amount of any single Helping Hand grant will be £100. It is possible that this may be revised in future, depending on the status of the Fund. However, we ask applicants to bear in mind that this is likely to be a small fund, and is intended as a gesture of support and 'good will' to make lives just a little bit easier in challenging times. We ask you to respect this gesture, by a) being thoughtful and sensible in the requests you make of the Fund; and, b) being understanding and respectful if the Organisers need to turn down your application for any reason.


Who are we?

We are:

Gillian Loomes
Gillian Loomes is an autistic scholar-activist. She held a teaching fellowship at ACER (the Autism Centre for Education and Research), University of Birmingham for several years, and has experience as a research consultant; including for the Autism Education Trust, the International Disability Rights Monitor, and the Essl Foundation. Her recent publications address topics relating the autism as social identity, 'autistic feminism', and the role of research participation and collaboration within the politics of disability rights. Gillian works for Leeds Autism AIM, and is a convenor of PARC (the Participatory Autism Research Collective). She tweets regularly, and can be followed @loomesgill.

Gillian's website is voicespaces.co.uk

Shona Murphy
Shona is an autistic autism trainer. She has an MA in Autism, where she researched autistic parenthood, and also does consultancy in autism research, supports autistic people, and does a variety of voluntary work supporting and advocating for autistic people.

Shona's website is shonamurphy.me 

*** Applications to the Fund are made by completing this brief Survey here.   ***
[Click on 'here' to access survey].

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • £50 
    • 3 yrs

Fundraising team: Autistic Mutual Aid Fund (2)

Gill Loomes-Quinn
Organizer
Raised £505 from 11 donations
Shona Murphy
Team member
Raised £320 from 8 donations
This team raised £2,668 from 65 other donations.

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