Tees Valley Buddies is a small charity founded in 2020 to create a community and a sense of belonging among neurodivergent people. We provide regular social activities such as walk and talks, well being activities in the tees valley area with an emphasis on lived experience offering peer support through neurodivergent volunteers. Having a member led approach to services and support allows us to build trust and have a deeper understanding of what our service users need.
% of autistic people [mh]
In the short space of time we have been in oractise we have seen huge amounts of personal growth. Members have built the confidence from joining the group anxious and developed on to become volunteers.
While we ensure the majority of our volunteers, staff and management are neurodivergent, we welcome any neurotype with the passion to celebrate the value of Autistic, ADHD, Dlexic, Dyspraxic and other neurodivergent people. Our procedures ensure that neurodivergence such as burn out, sensory overload and it's imperitive that these things are both acknoleged and respected. Our priority lies with the well being of everyone within the charity despite some practises being different to how other organisations may be run. Other values we look for in those volunteering with us:
- Maintaining confidentiality
- Interesting in personal growth
- Shows initiative
- Clarity and honesty in communication
- Commited and reliable
- Self aware of their own limitations and boundaries
- Respectful of others boundaries