The National Autistic Society Scotland has been awarded three years of funding from the National Lottery’s Improving Lives Fund to launch a new mentoring project to support autistic adults.

This project will work with up to 90 autistic adults living in the Glasgow City Council area, providing tailored, person-centred support to help improve individuals’ wellbeing and reach their personal goals.

Individual support will be delivered by volunteer mentors, working towards empowering the participant to achieve personal goals. These could be finding a job, starting a business, improving money management, or more social aspirations, such as going out with friends. Goals will be entirely user-led, with the people supported central to setting these. The programme mentors will work closely to create an action plan to empower participants to achieve these goals themselves.

Each mentorship programme will take place over nine months, with a group celebration event taking place after they have completed their sessions. In addition, the participants will be offered access to weekly online social activities, which aim to tackle isolation and loneliness and provide peer to peer support.

Leading on this project is a Project Coordinator, who will be supported by a new post currently advertised for (Volunteer Coordinator), which can be found here.

For more information about this project, whether to register or enquire about volunteering, contact adult.mentoring@nas.org.uk.

Rob Holland, Director of the National Autistic Society Scotland said:

“We are delighted to receive funding from National Lottery to run this new and exciting programme of support for autistic adults in Glasgow. Our focus is on empowering autistic adults by supporting them to work towards goals of their choosing. We also believe this will be a really positive experience for volunteer mentors, who will be given the unique opportunity to develop their skills and contribute to supporting people in their community.”

Kate Still, Scotland Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund said:

“National Lottery funding can make amazing things happen in local communities across the country. This project delivered by National Autistic Society Scotland, is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved when people come together for a common cause or to help others. National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raise is helping to support this vital work and to help communities thrive.”