The not-for-profit, Autism West, will mark its 10th Anniversary with a cocktail party celebration and live auction on Friday 15 June at the creative venue Stackwood, a former diesel workshop, in Fremantle.
Established in March 2008 by a small group of local families concerned by the lack of services and support for children and families affected by autism, the not-for-profit has helped thousands of families over the past decade.
Founder and Chairperson, and mother of a 20 year-old-son with autism, Silvana Gaglia, said she was extremely humbled and proud of what Autism West had achieved.
“We provide a range of incredible, life-changing services to children, teens and young adults with autism. Our focus is on our participants’ strengths and interests. Some of our activities include social and life-skills groups, computer coding, art, film-making, music workshops, as well as a youth advisory council,” she said.
“Our aim is to help young people engage successfully with their community to build self-esteem and social skills. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see our kids and young adults make new friends, grow their confidence and become more independent by participating in our social groups.
“We are eternally grateful for the generosity of our corporate sponsors, personal donors, volunteers, board members, ambassadors and the greater community who have supported us over the past 10 years.
“As a grass-roots organisation with no government funding, we couldn’t deliver our vital services and projects to families across Western Australia without their support. The celebration is a special thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey.”
Ms Gaglia said Autism West had big plans for the future and was proud of its innovative, best practice culture.
“Our services have grown so much over the years and last year we moved to larger premises in Fremantle,” she said.
“We will continue to build partnerships to grow our social skills programs and look at employment opportunities for young adults on the autism spectrum. Our vision is for a community where individuals with autism are accepted, celebrated and supported.
“To achieve many of these things we need a continuous cash-flow and we aim to raise $75,000 at the Cocktail party celebration this year. We have an amazing auction with prizes all kindly donated by Autism West supporters and we are hoping many members of the local community will come and join us.”
The Cocktail party celebration will commence at 6:30pm. Tickets are $150 each and can be purchased by visiting trybooking.com/tqvy or call 9431 2111 for more information.
Photograph kindly provided by Fremantle Herald Newspaper.
