DOGS for Autism, an Alton-based charity, has launched its first Crowdfunding campaign to raise £5,000 towards its work training assistance dogs for autistic people.

All the charity’s fundraising plans for this year have been cancelled or postponed because of the pandemic, and it is looking at new ways to raise money. The Crowdfunder is just one of these.

The £5,000 Dogs for Autism hopes to raise through crowdfunding will be used towards supporting its current families, whose challenges with autism have been increased during the pandemic, with high levels of anxiety, difficulties in processing information and uncertainty about the future.

Autistic people struggle with change and a lack of routine, and many of the autistic children can’t understand why their world has changed so much.

Jan Kiley, operations manager at the charity, said: “Although we can put future growth on hold, we have a strong commitment and passion to enable our current partnerships to flourish and succeed.

“Any funding received will be used for our work with our existing families and dogs, enabling us to support them through the current pandemic and beyond.”

Dogs for Autism (DfA) are offering some great rewards through its crowdfunding campaign, ranging from a DfA T-shirt, regular ‘pupdates’, a visit to its headquarters – and even a visit from their dogs to your office.

Check out the charity’s crowdfunding page at www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/

dogsforautism