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Ambitious about Autism
Founded	1997
Type	Registered Charity
Focus	Autism spectrum
Location	Woodside Avenue, London, N10, UK;
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE, (President), Jolanta Lasota (Chief Executive)
Website	ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk

Ambitious about Autism is a UK national charity which aims to improve opportunities for young people on the autism spectrum. Originally established in 1997 as the TreeHouse Trust, the charity was founded by a group of parents – including author Nick Hornby – whose first child had been diagnosed with autism.^[2]

Their mission has been described as being to "help children and young people with autism to learn, thrive and achieve – making the ordinary possible."^[3]

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 in its 2017 inspection.^[4]

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 in London. In 2004 the school moved to Muswell Hill, also in London, and in October 2008 moved into a purpose designed building – the Pears National Centre for Autism Education.^[5]

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 who also designed the Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital.^[6] It was named for the Pears Foundation, a major supporter.

Ambitious about Autism

An event at the House of Lords on 10 February 2010 it was announced that TreeHouse Trust would be renamed Ambitious about Autism.^[7] 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, 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 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 and that ~85% of adults with autism are unemployed.^[8] 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 to create "A clear legal right to educational support up to the age of 25 years for young disabled people".^[9]

The Finished at School campaign was supported by an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons 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...".^[10] 55 MPs signed in support of the motion.

In 2018, the charity launched a campaign called We Need An Education^[11] 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 been 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.^[12]

Patrons

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

John Bercow
Sally Bercow
Nicky Clark
Matthew Davis
Keith Duffy
Eliza Mishcon
Charlotte Moore
Claire Ryan
Sophie Walker

In 2011, Sally Bercow donated £100,000 from a TV appearance on Channel 5 to Ambitious about Autism.^[13]

Ambassadors

Luke Treadaway
Sarah Cawood
Michelle Collins
Jonny Gould
Jon Snow
Hayley Ronson
David Mitchell
Kathy Lette
Jules Robertson
Niamh Cusack
Simon and Lucy Mottram

Leadership

The charity's president is Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE. He is supported by several vice-presidents, including Nick Hornby. The Chief Executive is Jolanta Lasota.^[14]

References

^ Register of Charities. "Charity overview". Charity Commission. UK Government. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ "Nick Hornby Author's Site". Penguin Books. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
^ "Tessa Munt MP joins Ambitious about Autism". Tessa Munt MP official site. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ "Short inspection of Treehouse School". Ofsted. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
^ Jackson, Luke (15 August 2002). Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence. England: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9781846423567.
^ "National centre for excellence supporting young people with Autism". World Architecture News. WAN. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ "It's official – TreeHouse is Ambitious About Autism". TalkTalk Blog. TalkTalk. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ Gentleman, Amelia (11 October 2011). "Where's the support for autistic young people?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
^ "Where next for young people with Autism?". Finished at School. Ambitious about Autism. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ "Early Day Motion 2254". House of Commons business papers. UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ "Children With Autism Are Slipping Through The Cracks Of Our Education System". HuffPost UK. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
^ "Talk about autism". Ambitious about Autism. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
^ "Sally Bercow proud of BB appearance". The Belfast Telegraph. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
^ Young-Powell, Abby (13 December 2012). "Five minutes with... Jolanta Lasota". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2013.