Hello all, as always, we at Awesome Archie endeavour to support and share any knowledge that we believe can help the lives of those affected by autism.

Being a carer for someone is an incredibly tough job, I know this first hand, but imagine how tough it is for a child carer? This was something that, up until just recently, I didn’t think too much about, until I met Mina Peroni.

Mina Peroni is a Level-Up Programme Co-ordinator & DSL @mytime_charity who is deeply passionate about young peoples wellbeing and equal opportunities.

I first met Mina about a year ago when she came into a school where I was working. Mina spoke about the lives of young carers and how a child’s entire outlook on life could be so different to those kids who are free to just be kids. I will genuinely NEVER forget the incredible talk she delivered. It made me look at my own children and how much they are affected by Archie’s needs and even though they NEVER moan, it put things into perspective for me. This is why I am sharing this information with you all.

My time Carers state that they are levelling the playing field for young carers!

“With an educational approach driven by charitable action, our mission is to level the playing field for young carers by providing them with the support, friendship and opportunities that every child deserves.“

There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK.

“You’re a young carer if you’re under 18 and help to look after a family member with a disability, illness, mental health condition or drug or alcohol problem.“

And let me tell you, I know a couple of kids that are under MYTIME’s care and they LOVE it! They go for days out, have parties and get to just be children without interruption or worry.

If you think that a family member may benefit from MYTIME’s amazing care, please do contact them and let them know that you heard about them through us. Mina and the team are all just so lovely and we HIGHLY recommend both the service that they provide but also what they stand for.

WELL DONE MYTIME young carers! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Awesome Archie is Father Christmas… ish 😆

This week we had a knock at the door from a dear friend Maria. For those of you watching our live at the time, you will have heard her ring the doorbell 🤣 Maria very kindly donated a HUGE collection of immaculate children’s books and Archie knew straight away what he wanted to do with them. We ( I 😉 ) immediately started wrapping them and we headed off to our “Awesome” families to deliver them. For me personally, this has been the highlight of my Christmas so far. I adore all the children that we are blessed to support and seeing their faces as Archie gave them a gift was priceless 😍

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Thankyou to Maria and ALL of our unbelievable friends who go above and beyond to support, not only us a family, but as a non profit too. WE ARE TRUELY BLESSED TO HAVE YOU!!

Awesome Archie is hosting a mini carol concert with The Boscombe Salvation Army

This Tuesday evening (13/12/2022) at 7pm you are invited to join us on our YouTube channel for a free, live streamed mini Christmas Carol service. We know that with all the hideous germs going around that many families with vulnerable children will not venture out too much this Christmas season. We wanted to spread some Christmas cheer into your living rooms with our love and best wishes . All you have to do is subscribe to our YouTube channel (it’s free) and hop on at 7pm on Tuesday 🙂 Click here for link 🙂

Lastly, sit down…this may shock you… I HAD A NIGHT OUT!!!

I realise that to lots of parents this may seem like “non news” however, for me it was AMAZING and totally newsworthy :). With founding and running Awesome Archie whilst being a wife and mummy, there is really no time left for me. If I’m honest, any rare left over time results in me napping because I’m so worn out🤣 but I DID IT!

I was very graciously invited to join the priory school out on their Christmas meal. I haven’t worked there officially in a while, but I still support them with their SEN and I felt really lucky to have some Christmas fun with them. I must admit that it was just what I needed and it felt amazing to get all dressed up with makeup and everything (for those of you who watch my lives, you will know that this is rare 😉 .)

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THANKYOU for getting my Christmas officially started.

This weeks blog is dedicated to author Matt Haig. For those of you who don’t know, Matt has spoken for the first time about his recent ASD and ADHD diagnosis and how it has put so many things into perspective for him.

“From the publication of his first novel in 2004, Matt Haig has enjoyed popular success with his fiction for adults and children, including crossover hits.

His style is highly readable, switching seamlessly between humour and poignancy, but this conceals his pursuit of deeper literary concerns. In his adult fiction, in particular, Haig employs a succession of unusual narrators to dissect family life and dysfunction, exploring notions of anxiety, suppression and control in the context of familial relationships.”

British council literature

Matt took to Instagram to explain how he has always felt a little different to his peers and that this has lead him to struggle with his mental health. Something for which I must say, he writes impeccably about. His books the “Midnight Library” and “Reasons To Stay Alive” were transformative for me personally. HOWEVER…

This is why I feel so strongly about getting a diagnosis.

For us, it has always made sense that having a label didn’t need to define Archie but we NEEDED that label to get the correct support for us, our son and his siblings.

No one wants their child to be in a position where a diagnosis is necessary, but when you are in it, accept it, use it, learn about it and embrace it. It took us a couple of months to grieve (sounds weird but that’s how it felt) and then we were able to push on and educate ourselves.

We believe that, in the end, your child will thank you for it and that you, as a loving parent, won’t live in guilt regretting the signs that you ignored because it was all too much. AND IT IS, IT’S REALLY SCARY but it is also beautiful and life changing in so many positive ways.

If you think that your child may have ASD please click on this link and it will take you directly to the National Autistic Society. They have so much wonderful and useful information for all families affected by autism. We have also attached a small clip that Archie made, explaining what his autism is like for him.

For more information, please feel free to subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so that you’re notified of any new videos. We are also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and would love for you to join us on any of our socials!

As scary as it feels right now, I promise that, once you’ve accepted it, you’ll feel so much better… and there are multiple charities and non-profit organisations that have got your back.

This weeks blog is a real celebration of owning your own quirks! 😋

Yesterday was a real highlight of my entire week. I had spent most of the week looking after my ill children 🤢 and creating both content and craft to use for fundraising. It was yesterday that all of the hard work paid off for us as a team.

It was a 13 hour work day (mostly standing) and let me tell you that I am paying for it today. 🧟‍♀️ However, it was so worth it.

My day began at the lovely William Gilpin school, where I volunteer support to a few children with SEN. We were having a WWII experience day and I decided to throw myself into the spirit. I knew that some of the kids may not have been super comfortable dressing up, so seeing an adult looking a bit silly has to help ease their tension… it certainly worked! 🤣🤣🤣

We all realised early on in class (pretending it was 1939) that there was no room in those days for individuality. Everyone wore something similar to the next person. The girls had to be in skirts, the boys in shorts or trousers. Women were most likely going to be homemakers and the men went to war. Children’s learning was regimented and never individualised, regardless of need and my little students picked up on it. 😍 It lead to some really lovely discussions about how grateful we are to live in our time, even though its still far from perfect. How I can come to work with brightly coloured hair and NEVER wear a skirt 🤣 and how my way of learning is not the same as my mates, but it’s still learning. Great, great day.

Next I moved onto another school, this time in Christchurch. The Priory School’s annual Christmas Fair.

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It was our second Awesome Archie pop up shop of the season and it was lovely. We not only managed to raise £ 270 🎉🎉🎉 but we were more importantly able to talk about the power and beauty of autism . How it’s not to be feared and how peoples quirkiness is part of their individual make up and should be celebrated.

It was very moving for my husband and I to see so many kids wearing our Awesome Archie merch and each T came with a lecture of “BE PROUD TO BE YOU!” 😍

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We are delighted to announce that HALF of yesterday profits will be fed back into the Priory school via their own charity “Friends of Priory School.” We hope that the £135 we are donating will help you to keep spreading the message of love and acceptance and keep all of your lovely pupils happy 🙂 Not only that, we have just purchased you a “life skills” play set (toaster, blender, kettle, etc.,) for you to keep your “awesome” kids learning those all important life skills.

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Another AWESOME week 🙂

Awesome Archie’s Christmas pop-up shop is now in full swing! (Bear with, I am going somewhere with this 😉 )

Today we launched our Christmas fundraising mission with our first Pop up shop of the season. We were lucky enough to be invited to sell at the Boscombe Salvation Army’s Christmas craft fair, and what a wonderful event it was.

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The Awesome Archie team were allocated a beautiful side room where we were not only able to sell our donated (thank you all) and created goods, but also had the chance to chat to families who wanted to share their troubles or celebrations of their experience with autism. The space meant that we could have plenty of time to have some really meaningful conversations and I am so grateful for the opportunity that the organiser, Claire Randell gave us . THANKYOU Claire!

Click here to see the video of us getting ready!

The whole building was FULL of Christmas treats and donated goodies and all the tables were manned by people who simply wanted to give their time to help others.

This struck a really valuable chord with me. My marriage, my Career, my children, my home have all thrived because of other people’s kindness. As someone with ADHD (unmedicated) and anxiety (medicated) I used to struggle to admit that I can’t do this parenting thing alone. Somehow, I used to think (many moons ago) that me not accepting Archie’s differences would make life easier for me and admitting his “problems” would be too big for me to cope with. I assumed that people would look at me as a failing parent and make judgements on my ability to be a mum.

NOT ANY MORE… and that is because of the age old proverb – “It takes a village to raise a child” (see, told you I’d get there!)

This  proverb  simply means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment.

This was so evident for us today! Not only do I want to say a massive thank you to all three of my AWESOME trustees for coming and supporting (thanks Elaine Hurll, Karen Newsome and David Mercer) but also, a huge thanks goes to…

* My eldest son for looking after Archie at home so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

* Every person that donated something for us to sell.

* Every penny spent at our pop up shop and all of those Awesome people who said “keep the change!”

* The organisers of this event who gave up so much of their time for not a penny of profit.

* The people that cooked bacon butties and made coffees so we wouldn’t be hungry.

* The parents who looked after other peoples kids so they could have a 5 minute breather and to those who took the time to ask how I was doing (it means a lot).

* The minister who let my daughter have a pillow fight with him! (No joke, I have photo evidence!)

* The people who felt safe enough to share some really emotional stuff and have others offer advice, knowing that it wouldn’t go any further!

I could go on forever.

So THANKYOU for helping us raise our children. THANKYOU for donating or buying so that I can pass that gift forward and THANKYOU for listening to me bang on about how children’s differences need to be celebrated, not feared.

Our little shop raised £149.50!!! EVERY PENNY of which is going back into the work we do to support kids with autism.

Our “village” is truly the blessed!!!!

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This weeks blog is dedicated to all the parents, carers, fundraisers and educators that support kids throughout their individual journeys through childhood.

This week I have been touched by the amount of kindness, love and support there is in our world. I know that the news can often fill us with dread but for me, I have been uplifted and humbled by people’s generosity and understanding for those born a little differently.

My week started with a message from the founder of the Dorset Children’s Foundation , the lovely Pasty Hallmey. She explained that she had been able to offer me ANOTHER £1000 which meant that I could buy yet more SEN equipment for the schools and families that we proudly support.

This has meant that this week, Awesome Archie have donated SEN goodies to Parkfield School, Mudeford Junior School, William Gilpin School, Christchurch Junior School, the Dare to Believe program with Dorset School Games, Poppets Pre-school along with a couple of families that asked for our help.

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We would like to publicly thank the Dorset Children’s Foundation for all the work they do, not only for the children with physical disabilities but for guiding little non-profits (like me!) to reach those with neurological differences as well. Archie and I NEVER take your support for granted! THANK YOU!!

Awesome Archie had a fantastic experience this week. He and I were interviewed by Helen Head, an inclusion journalist for the BBC. Archie has been interviewed a few times now, but this one was different. Helen came into our home and spent a long time chatting with us about the challenges and celebrations of living with ASD. I cant give any more details away at this time but we will keep you posted as to when the interview will air. We would like to thank Helen and the team at BBC Radio Solent for giving us so much of your time, it means a great deal.

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Author and illustrator William Grill encourages kids with dyslexia to just write for love and never give up.

Firstly I need to admit that this was a party to which I totally gate crashed 🤣Oak Class at William Gilpin school had worked so hard to get a day taught by William Grill himself and they very graciously let me check in. What a fantastic and inspirational teacher he is to us all. As a successful dyslexic author, he was a real inspiration for the kids, especially those that find writing tough. I have attached his website deets here and would love you to check him out 🙂

Lastly, today I had a really incredible experience. For years I have been using little bits of makaton to help Archie communicate in public. Although he is incredibly verbal at home (and where he is comfortable), he is predominantly non-verbal when out in public.

I was privileged today to go to the beautiful Portfield School and be trained in ‘Signalong’ by an Autism Unlimited educator called Jenny. This all-day course was unbelievably helpful for me, not just as a parent, but also for my work in supporting children with autism in main-stream.

We started the day with a coffee and a chat and continued to, not only learn about the importance of signing for non-verbal children, but also the positive impact it has on the families and friends of those supporting. I was fortunate enough to sit amongst some parents of kids at Portfield School and it was amazing to be able to engage with people who just fully understood how tough parent caring can be however, it was even more lovely for us to be able to share all the positives and laugh about our parenting disasters.

I have attached a link to the incredible Autism Unlimited here and would urge you, as either a parent, carer or educator, to take a look at what they offer. I will now be practicing daily and signing wherever I go in the hope that it will encourage others to be brave enough to use other forms of communication.

Thank you Jenny and the Autism Unlimited team.

WOWSERS, life at Awesome Archie is cool right now. 😍 These last few months have been a really exciting ride and this weekend has to have been the happiest in our career to date!

The one and only king of the jungle, the football legend and genuinely lovely guy HARRY REDKNAPP has shown his support of the work we do here at Awesome Archie non profit!

Not only did we get to meet him and his utterly wonderful wife Sandra, but he has kindly signed our books for us to auction in the new year

He has also sent us a little clip of him reading our books. Just remarkable . We are still giddy with excitement!

link below 🙂

Harry Redknapp reads Awesome Archie!

We will finalise the deets nearer the time but for now, here is a sneak peek of the goodies up for grabs and the awesome man himself!!!!

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THANKYOU HARRY REDKNAPP. You are helping us to support children with SEN and we LOVE you for it xxxxxx

As always, my week has been one of real excitement and variety.

Over the last few months, my children and I have been relentlessly collecting donations of Christmas decorations to sell and raise money to support children with SEN and toys to donate to the Dorset Children’s Foundation Christmas Appeal.

On Monday, the Awesome Archie team lugged a HUGE amount of generously donated second-hand toys to the DCF Treehouse.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your kindness. Patsy is an incredible supporter of local children who, like the rest of us, may find Christmas more of a stretch this year. With the economic climate affecting everybody, it felt really good to know that Patsy would be able to put these donated toys to good use.

This week, I was also privileged to meet an incredible person called Dr Miriam Walker. Prior to joining the University of Winchester, Dr Miriam was a teacher in both primary and secondary special schools. For many years she was a coordinator for gifted and talented education as well as a SENCO. This sparked a particular interest in children with autism. Her doctorate in education has continued to consider autism in main-stream primary schools, particularly focusing on autistic pupil’s perceptions of how well they are understood. She then went on to developing a model that will hopefully help both teachers and pupils to gain a better understanding and awareness of the need for direct and respectful communication in order to form strong working relationships.

I could continue to go on and list the many incredible things that Dr Miriam has done, but I fear that might take up an entire blog post by itself! Needless to say, getting to meet Dr Miriam Walker was a genuine pleasure and I could have spoken to her for hours on end. I am delighted to say that we are now in contact and I am hoping that, moving forward, we will be able to assist each other in the support of children with autism.

Finally, today was a genuinely moving day for me at William Gilpin School. I volunteered this morning to help children with their catch-up learning and I was blessed to be invited to sit in on their remembrance service. Mrs Linsley told the children a story of people who had to leave their homes and stand up for what they believed in. She explained that many of those people who fought never managed to make back home and it is their sacrifices that we honour today. I have never heard the reason for celebrating remembrance told so sensitively and so appropriately for children and, as we sat in our two minutes silence, I don’t mind admitting that I had a quiet moment and a little tear. I was then invited to help the children in placing some metal, ornamental garden poppies in a special area of the playground where the flagpole stands.

I would like to thank Mrs Linsley and all the staff at William Gilpin School. Since I have been volunteering there, there has been such a sense of understanding, support, love and fun for all the children within their care. For a mum of a child with neurological differences, I know first-hand how rare this is and I am so grateful to each and every one of them.

I would also love to give special thanks to Linzi and Will, the proprietors of the gorgeous Dirty Gerties in Christchurch. Over the years they have been a tremendous support to Arch and I and they have generously gifted us a cash register to use in our fundraising sales. THANKS SO, SO MUCH.

This week has been a really interesting one for Team Awesome!

The week started off as it usually does with resource making, online parent-carer support and content creating. However, Thursday was a day that we won’t be forgetting in a hurry!

Archie and I were honoured to be asked to attend the gallery viewing of “Canvas For The Mac” in aid of MacMillan Caring Locally. We were able to enjoy viewing an exclusive preview exhibition with a varied selection of unique art pieces.

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The event was held at the beautiful Captain’s Club Hotel in Christchurch and we were not only able to see lots of fantastic pieces of art but were also privileged to meet lots of really interesting people. The booklet given to us on our arrival stated that…

“Canvas For The Mac will help raise funds for the Brick-by-Brick Appeal. We are truly grateful to the small ‘Canvas For The Mac’ team who have dedicated so much of their time and efforts to make this project possible.”

Please click here for a link to the auction of these remarkable pieces and for additional information.

We would like to say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU for the privilege of being invited to such an important event and we will be forever grateful that it opened up a conversation with our children about the incredible work that MacMillan Caring Locally do.

I’d like to make a special mention to Harry Redknapp and his lovely wife Sandra. Thank you for taking the time with Archie and I and for giving up a small piece of your evening to tolerate an overexcited me 😂

I’d also like to say a thank you to Reformed Plastics for helping to sponsor the event and to the incredible team that organised this terrific event (I won’t mention your name… but you know who you are! 😘 ).

We at the Awesome Archie team want to wish you all a happy Halloween. Although Arch has never been a fan of this season as it is all rather too scary, we are embracing it our own way 🙂

We have written a little tale for you to enjoy, particularly if you are a bit nervous of trick or treating. ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇

We have also created a polite “No Trick or Treat” sign for those of you who do not want to have that door knocking dilemma. Just download and print with our best wishes 🙂

WOW, what a week to finish the half term on! This week was one of our busiest but most brilliant weeks to date. Lots of news and tips to share so let’s do it 🙂

This week started with the delivery of an Awesome Archie assembly that we have given many times now. It is an awareness and acceptance lesson named “See the able and not the label”.

It speaks of how we should never use our diagnosis as an excuse to not have a go. Life is going to be full of highs and lows for everyone, we wanted to share that all the lows can lead to a really exciting high, if you never give up💪 . Thanks to the kids at the Priory C of E School for sitting and listening so politely 😁

On Wednesday, I had a really awesome meeting with the SENco of Parkfield School, Miss Kim Tucker. What an incredible passion and love for the job Kim has! We discussed lots of little tweaks and changes to help support the SEND pupils of the school and I was lucky enough to have a little tour.

Miss Tucker took me to the “green room”. This is a beautiful space in which children who are struggling, for whatever reason, can come and complete their work. It is a quiet, calm and safe space where the staff make the kids feel very welcomed and supported. They also have a dark sensory den and sensory toys. Linwood training and support have been fundamental in some of these remarkable installations and so I would like to thank them for that support. Moving forward, we at Awesome Archie are delighted to be able to supply Parkfield school with more SEN tools , a pea pod seat, sensory mat and an Awesome Archie inclusion pack.

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Wednesday afternoon was also the day that I was privileged to chat with Pasty Hallmey, the founder of the Dorset Children’s Foundation. As you know, Archie and I have been closely affiliated with the DCF for a little while now. It is something that we are immensely grateful for.

Pasty explained that a fantastic fundraising team called “Reggie’s Big Adventures” had cycled 1000 miles across France and raised a whopping £19,000 for the DCF!!! She then floored me by giving Awesome Archie non profit £1000 of the money raised to help the kids that we proudly support. Once I had stopped crying, I immediately started shopping for SEN equipment, tools, toys, dens, pea pods ⬇⬇⬇ , projectors.! You name it, we got it 🙂

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So THANKYOU, to Reggie’s team , the DCF and to anyone who as ever donated . You are genuinely changing children’s lives !

Thursday saw me giving my usual volunteered Classroom support at William Gilpin school, but this time with a fantastic twist. We celebrated “Dress UP for Downs”.

My time at “Willy Gilly” is genuinely the highlight of my week. ALL of the staff, the Children and Head Teacher (Mr Croutear) are a joy to be around. There is always laughter, kindness, acceptance and understanding and I am truly blessed to be a small part of this magnificent school. Thankyou for all you do for for your pupils (and me) 🤗🤗🤗

Lastly, but definitely not least, was Thursdays “Dare to Believe” event at TGS. You may recall me telling you that, not too long ago, I had a fantastic meeting with Mr Dan Moody (strategic lead for sports and development) and Mrs Claire Tabor (children and young persons manager and school games county lead). In this meeting they explained to me all about the Dare to Believe program.

It’s a sporting event for children who find sporting events tough. It may be that they are really shy and reserved, they may struggle to make friends or maybe they find teamwork tricky. It may also be that they have a physical disability or have a neurological difference. Whatever the reason, all are welcomed and what a JOY it was.

Dan asked me to come to the event with a criticising eye🧐. He wanted me to spot any improvements that needed to be made or what they could do better moving forward. Well, I walked around the event, speaking to teachers, TA’s, parents/carers and the kids and had nothing but positive feedback. 🦾 The Event was beautifully organised, extremely welcoming, fantastically inclusive and, for me, very moving. What choked me up the most was the Dorset leadership team trained by Mr Moody himself. The team is made up of school pupils, some as young as year 7. They not only supported the kids but created a lot of the games themselves. Just EPIC!

At the end, each child was rewarded for their efforts with a certificate and medal, all with a personalised value chosen for them.

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Thankyou Mr Moody and Mrs Tabor for your AWESOME work. The Awesome Archie team highly recommend the Dare to Believe program to all 🙂

Told you it was busy 😉

Have a wonderful half term break everyone and stay AWESOME!!!