Ambitious about Autism is a UK national

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

which aims to improve opportunities for young people on the

Autistic Spectrum The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, including those with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in Interpersonal relationship, social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and re ...

. Originally established in 1997 as the TreeHouse Trust, the charity was founded by a group of parents – including author

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir ''Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work f ...

– whose first child had been diagnosed with autism. Their mission has been described as being to "help children and young people with autism to learn, thrive and achieve – making the ordinary possible." It is known for operating TreeHouse School in Muswell Hill, north London, Ambitious College which has campuses in Tottenham and Isleworth, London and The Rise School, based in Feltham, west London. TreeHouse School was rated 'Outstanding' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

in its 2017 inspection.

History

TreeHouse Trust

The charity was originally known as the TreeHouse Trust and began the school, with five pupils, in a borrowed room in the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barn ...

in London. In 2004 the school moved to

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

, also in London, and in October 2008 moved into a purpose designed building – the Pears National Centre for Autism Education.

The Pears National Centre for Autism education

Officially opened in 2009, the centre became home to both the TreeHouse School and the charity. It was designed by British architects

Penoyre & Prasad Penoyre & Prasad is an architectural practice based in London. It was established in 1988 by Sunand Prasad and Greg Penoyre. The practice has an interest in low energy and sustainability. In 2007 Sunand Prasad became president of the Royal Inst ...

who also designed the

Richard Desmond Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of North ...

Children's Eye Centre at

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacent ...

. It was named for the Pears Foundation, a major supporter.

Ambitious about Autism

An event at the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

on 10 February 2010 it was announced that TreeHouse Trust would be renamed Ambitious about Autism. Aside from a new identity, it marked a change in the strategy of the charity. The school – still to be known as TreeHouse School – had a permanent home, with pupils' places mainly funded by their

Local Education Authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

, but there was still much to achieve in raising awareness and understanding of autism, the provision of a wider range of services and the influencing of

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

policy.

Campaigning for change

An example of their desire to influence policy is the 'Finished at School' campaign, which aims to change the facts that less than one in four children with autism in the UK go on to

Further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

and that ~85% of adults with autism are unemployed. The campaign began in October 2011 with the launch of a self-named report, with a foreword by Robert Buckland MP. Subtitled "Where next for young people with autism?", it called for the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

to create "A clear legal right to educational support up to the age of 25 years for young disabled people". The Finished at School campaign was supported by an

Early Day Motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

entitled "That this House believes that young people with autism need more effective education options once they finish school in order to allow them to access work, live more independently and break the cycle of dependency; and supports the Finished at School campaign run by Ambitious about Autism...". 55 MPs signed in support of the motion. In 2018, the charity launched a campaign called We Need An Education to raise awareness about the number of children and young people with autism missing from the UK's education system. The charity's Youth Patrons hosted a debate in the Clothworkers' Hall in London where they shared their experiences of school. The charity also commissioned a survey of parents of pupils with autism, which found that a third of parents had bee
forced to give up their job after their children were excluded from school

Talk about Autism

The charity runs the online autism community Talk about Autism as part of its mission to support families and individuals affected by the condition.

Patrons

The following are Parent Patrons of the charity. There are also a number of Youth Patrons. *

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior to ...

Sally Bercow Sally Kate Bercow (''née'' Illman; born 22 November 1969) is a British public personality and the wife of the former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. Early life Bercow attended the independent co-educational King Edward's School ...

* Nicky Clark * Matthew Davis *

Keith Duffy Keith Peter Thomas Francis Julian John Duffy (born 1 October 1974) is an Irish singer, actor, radio and television presenter and drummer who began his professional music career as part of Irish boy band Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mikey ...

* Eliza Mishcon * Charlotte Moore * Claire Ryan *

Sophie Walker Sophie Walker (born 27 May 1971) is a British political activist who was the founding leader of the Women's Equality Party (WE) in the United Kingdom. She led the party from 2015 until 2019, first appointed unanimously by the steering committee ...

In 2011, Sally Bercow donated £100,000 from a TV appearance on Channel 5 to Ambitious about Autism.

Ambassadors

Luke Treadaway Luke Antony Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is a British actor and singer. He won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christ ...

Sarah Cawood Sarah Louise Cawood (born 7 August 1972 in St Pancras, London) is an English broadcaster, best known for presenting the BBC Children's Saturday flagship morning show ''Live & Kicking''. Career Cawood grew up in the Cambridgeshire village of ...

Michelle Collins Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas ''EastEnders'' and ''Coronation Street''. Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' from ...

Jonny Gould Jonny Gould is a British media presenter, sports journalist, and political commentator. He has formerly broadcast on Sky News, Smooth Radio (2010), Smooth Radio, and Talksport among others. Gould has commented on antisemitism, conservative pol ...

* Jon Snow * Hayley Ronson * David Mitchell *

Kathy Lette Kathryn Marie Lette (born 11 November 1958) is an Australian-British author whose works have been best-sellers. Early life Lette was born on 11 November 1958 in Sydney's southern suburbs. She appeared in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' of 20 Au ...

*Jules Robertson *

Niamh Cusack Niamh Cusack ( ; born 20 October 1959) is an Irish actress. Born to a family with deep roots in the performing arts, Cusack has been involved as a performer since a young age. She has served with the UK's two leading theatre companies, the Ro ...

*Simon and Lucy Mottram

Leadership

The charity's president is Lord Tim Clement-Jones

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He is supported by several vice-presidents, including

. The Chief Executive is Jolanta Lasota.

References

External links

ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk
– official website.
talkaboutautism.org.uk
– online autism community.
treehouseschool.org.uk
– TreeHouse School homepage. {{coord, 51, 35, 12.61, N, 0, 09, 02.33, W, region:GB_scale:5000, display=title Autism-related organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1997 Education in London Special education in the United Kingdom Medical and health organisations based in London Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Organizations for children with health issues 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom