A charity has won a prestigious award for its tireless and innovative support for families living with autism.
Autism Family Support, run by Children in Touch, based in Worminghall, won the accolade at the National Autistic Society’s Autism Professionals Awards.
Service’s project manager, Gita Lobo, said: “We are thrilled to have won the Innovative Family Support, award which reflects the tremendous work our talented staff do on a daily basis to help improve the lives of local families living with autism.
“We’re really proud of how the service has expanded over the past few years and hope the award will allow us to better support families.”
The charity, which has tripled its workforce in just two years, provides support and advice to over 1,200 Oxfordshire families affected by autism every month. It now offers parent support groups, play schemes, training for parents and professionals, youth clubs, a befriending scheme and courses for teenagers.
Director of the centre for autism at the National Autistic Society Carol Povey said: “Autism Family Support stood out for the diversity of its services and the impact its work has had on families affected by autism in Oxfordshire. The service is a truly inspiring and deserving winner.
“I want to congratulate the service and encourage others to follow its lead and work hard to support the hundreds of thousands of people living with autism across the UK.”
There were six categories at the awards on Tuesday last week. The independent judging panel consisted of leading experts in the field of autism from a variety of professional backgrounds across the UK.