This week, we’d like to help a single mum from West Wycombe called Mara, and her 2 year old son.

Last summer, Mara’s son was diagnosed with autism. Shortly after the diagnosis, Mara’s partner left her. 

So for the past 6 months, Mara has been trying to do everything on own. She speaks very little English, has very little support from anyone and is incredibly isolated. She is trying to do as work much as she can to earn enough to support herself, mostly doing cleaning work, while also caring for her little boy.

We heard about Mara from her health visitor who is desperately trying to find help for her. Mara’s health visitor has managed to get Mara a place on a course for parents of newly diagnosed autistic children, called EarlyBird. The course was designed by the National Autistic Society and helps parents by providing information, strategies, techniques and resources to help with day to day life and giving them a structure so parents on the course can support each other. The health visitor believes the course will be a huge help to both Mara and her son, and has even found someone who can go on the course with Mara to give her support and help her communicate....but what they don’t have is any way for Mara to get there. The course is a 45 minute drive from where Mara lives, and is held once a week. Public transport links are poor, so unless you drive it’s very hard to get there. Her health visitor has sought funding from various places with no luck, and the course starts in one week. As it stands, Mara isn’t going to be able to go.

We think Mara and her son deserve a little bit of kindness, and we don't want them to miss out on something that could be of so much help to them both. So with your help, we would like to pay for Mara's transport to the course, and for child care for her son while she is there. We would also like to buy some sensory toys and equipment to help him.