To mark Autistic Pride Day (Wednesday 18th June), we are sharing a report with you about some of the positive things our team, volunteers and clients achieved together in Leeds over the past three years.  

The work demonstrates what autistic people and their allies can achieve and be proud of. We worked with Paul Rhodes, an independent evaluator, to look at the impact of some of our services. 

The report covers our mentoring, one-to-one peer support and peer support groups and what they did for people between January 2022 and March 2025. This work was funded by a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund. 

Smashing targets

Over the three years, we had aimed to support 120 autistic adults over three years through one-to-one peer support. In that time, we supported 188!

We also aimed to support 50 autistic adults in mentoring matches with volunteer mentors. For that period, we supported 52 in matches.

Cumulative attendance for our monthly Women-Aligned and Peer Support Groups between January 2022 and April 2025 was far higher than the target of 150, standing at 666. Attendance for both groups has grown significantly in the past year and remains healthy.

Key findings

In the evaluation, there were some key findings about how mentoring, volunteer and one-to-one peer support changed the lives of autistic adults it supported. They include:

  • Clients finding the confidence to engage with their work and/or studies after meeting with their mentee/peer support worker
  • Many people in mentoring matches developing lasting friendships and connections
  • Peer support clients developing strategies for self-advocating and coping

Some of the outcomes shared by clients who spoke to us as part of the evaluation included improved wellbeing and mental health, connections to their local community and confidence in managing social relationships.

The report includes some anonymised case studies, further showing what mentoring and peer support has been able to achieve. The impact on volunteers, including their confidence, is also discussed.

Download a copy

If you would like to read the report, please click on the button below.

For any enquiries about the report and its’ findings, please email Owen at [email protected].