Behind the scenes it’s been a busy first half of the year for Aupeer! In 2023 we have received over 50 new registrations for our groups, and this is one reason why it is so important that we take some time behind the scenes to put Aupeer in a position to continue to provide high quality, impactful and safe peer support for our peers.
VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME
Establishing our new volunteer programme from scratch took some effort, but it’s a positive step for the company and for our ability to provide peer support.
Hats off to Anna and Katie for taking on and completing the peer support training! It’s a transformational step for Aupeer and we are grateful for the knowledge and experience that our new volunteers bring to us, as well as grateful to them for volunteering their time. And thank you to Health Education England for funding the two training places. Find out more about Anna and Katie here: https://www.aupeer.org.uk/about
We aim to provide volunteer opportunities to autistic and neurodivergent people to use their invaluable lived experience to support and connect our neurodivergent peers. If you are interested in volunteering with Aupeer, we will be recruiting in the future so please keep your eyes open for new opportunities!
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP
We have continued working in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto Canada, supporting their Canadian based autistic-led peer support program, Welcome EveryBody (WEB). Aupeer CIC have been supporting the facilitator team with training and peer to peer supervision sessions.
TRAINING
In addition, our Charlotte completed her Peer Supervision Training with ImROC also funded by Health Education England which added to and cemented her knowledge of delivering peer to peer supervision. This training has been supporting our work with CAMH’s and Charlotte will be providing peer supervision for our new volunteers.
If you'd like to hear more about how we can support the establishment and running of peer led autistic peer support programmes via training and peer to peer supervision provision, please get in touch at charlotte@aupeer.org.uk
ADHD
Charlotte also received a diagnosis of ADHD in January this year and is currently adjusting to yet another identity reveal! We have been contemplating providing peer led support groups for autistic people with ADHD or ADD as an expansion to Aupeer’s services. There is a definite lack of support in this area.
If this is something you would be interested in, send us an email to register your interest: hello@aupeer.org.uk
