A new Sunderland-based community interest company is aiming to provide free support for people with autism, other spectrum-related diagnosis and their families.
Shout 360 CIC is a not-for-profit organisation founded by Michael Colling and Tracy Woodhouse, providing counselling support to autistic children and adults at all stages of their journey, from self-identification through to the assessment process, diagnosis and beyond.
All sessions are delivered by professional counsellors who have engaged in autism specific training, including Mr Colling, who received his own autism diagnosis in his thirties after struggling to find support through school and into early adulthood.
Mr Colling said: “Between me and Tracy, Shout 360 is a collaboration of our concerns, passions, ideas and recognition for the need for a different type of mental health provision for autistic people.
“I’m already doing this work in schools to enhance the effectiveness of SEND teams and help increase diagnosis in the spirit of making sure that the person gets to act without inhibition in accordance with what makes them neurodiverse. It’s about preventing a society from trying to jam everyone into the same corner, because it doesn’t work.
“Shout 360 is a CIC with counselling at its heart. Fundamentally it’s about training, broadening our awareness and sharing different ideas in places where old ones call the shots, and as funding grows, I would love it to be a hub for families to come. It’s not just for children in schools, it’s for adults, couples, and families. It’s all about encapsulating the need for everyone to understand each other better.”
Tracy and Michael received support from the North East BIC when setting up their social enterprise, with the BIC Social Enterprise team guiding them through funding, business finances and legal structures.
Newcastle Building Society has provided further funding to Gosforth's St Oswald's Hospice, which provides specialist care for adults and children from across the region with life-limiting conditions.
St Oswald’s continued to run both its inpatient ward and its children’s service right through the pandemic, investing more than £100,000 in the additional clinical and support services required to meet patients’ needs and keep them as safe from infection as possible.
A new infection prevention control nurse and additional bereavement counsellors have been brought in, while the Hospice’s Silver Rings project is enabling engraved keepsakes to be created by a silversmith for families as reminders of their loved ones.
Newcastle Building Society has now awarded a £3,000 grant through its Community Fund at the Community Foundation to the hospice to help it covers its running costs and meet the financial challenges that it is still facing.
It’s the second time in the last two years that the Hospice has received support from the Society, with a £5,000 grant given in 2020 to help it maintain its essential services.
Jane Hogan, head of fundraising at St Oswald’s Hospice, says: “The Hospice is still operating under a range of restrictions in order to keep our patients safe and there are still a lot of challenges facing us, but we’re optimistic for the future."
A handful of companies native to the North East have been named among the region's best companies to work for by employee engagement firm Best Companies.
The Best Companies to Work For list ranks the UK's best workplaces based on eight pillars: leadership, my company, my manager, personal growth, my team, wellbeing, fair deal and giving something back.
Among the latest firms to make the list were: Key Training, durhamlane, Vianet, Accent Group, Oasis Community Housing, Space Architects, Darlington Building Society, mybuilder.com and Ryder.
durhamlane’s head of HR, Tracey Clark, said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised once again by Best Companies. We are a people business, and although we care about performance and revenue, it’s our people that help us achieve that. We have always had a focus on company culture and continually strive to improve, which is why the ongoing success in the awards is a huge milestone for us.
“Achieving the 3 Star accreditation is Best Companies highest standard of workplace engagement, representing organisations that truly excel – and we are proud to be one of them.”
Bradley Hall Chartered Surveyors and Estate Agents is supporting Sunderland Area Parent Support charity with a campaign at The Bridges shopping centre.
Senior surveyor at Sunderland, Helen Wall said, “Following the success of our Christmas Eve Box appeal with SAPS, Bradley Hall Sunderland is delighted to be once again supporting Sunderland Area Parent Support group.
“We will be in The Bridges indoor shopping centre on May 27 trying to raise vital funds to support children living in poverty within Sunderland. We have some fantastic prizes up for grabs including a £50 Sunderland gift card donated by Sunderland BID which can be used in a variety of retailers in the city centre, a voucher for STACK Seaburn, a voucher for the Inn Collection Group’s Seaburn Inn, and so much more.”
Susan Leigh, the manager at Sunderland Area Parents Support said: “We are really pleased to be working with Bradley Hall Sunderland again after the success and valuable work they did for our Christmas Eve boxes last year.
“At present our biggest issue in Sunderland is hunger poverty and children going without the correct meals and nutrition. With the funds Bradley Hall Sunderland raises while at The Bridges, we hope to tackle this issue and use any funds raised to support that.
A grant funding programme which will help communities become ‘greener’ through carbon reduction, environmental improvement and education has been launched by Esh Construction.
Working in partnership with County Durham Community Foundation (CDCF), an independent grant-making foundation, Esh has allocated a £50,000 fund for projects which are centred around green skills, climate resilience, improving green spaces and habitats.
Esh has pledged to support a minimum of 10 communities across Durham, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Sheffield, Barnsley, York, Wakefield and Hull. Eligible projects could include the installation of greener technology, training programmes to support service users to live more sustainably, and the development of a communal green space.
Darush Dodds, corporate affairs director at Esh Construction said: “The need for us all to reduce our carbon footprint, live more sustainability and look after our green spaces has never been more important. By launching the ’10 Greener Communities’ programme we hope to assist those in the areas we work to develop projects or initiatives which can have a positive impact on the environment.
"At Esh, we have always been passionate about leaving a legacy in our communities, and we’re excited to see the benefits that will be delivered through this £50,000 fund.”
