Details of the date, guest speakers and some of the stallholders for this year’s #BiggerAndBetterInLeeds autism awareness day event have been confirmed. The 2018 event will take place on Tuesday 27th March from 9:30am to 3pm.

It will be held in the Banqueting Suite of the Leeds Civic Hall, and is completely free to attend. Two guest speakers have been lined up, as well as a few short speeches by local autistic people and an exciting new addition this year.

Guest speakers

We have some fantastic guest speakers lined up for the 2018 event. The first is television producer and comedy writer Henry Normal. Henry has a 19-year-old autistic son and has recently published a new book ‘A Normal Family – Everyday Adventures with our Autistic Son’.

Henry explains the book is for anyone whose life has been touched by autism – it’s about hope, the despair, and the messy, honest and sometimes comical day-to-day world of autism.

The second is Angie Balmer, the Learning Disability and Neurodiverse Conditions Community Partner for the DWP in West Yorkshire. Angie will be talking about her efforts to up-skill work coaches regarding autism and the challenges it brings.

She will also discuss her experiences as an autistic person acclimatising to a new career within the civil service. Angie has been working for the DWP for a number of years and regularly visits job centres in Leeds.

Afterwards, we will also have a few small talks from autistic people in the Leeds area. They will be speaking about what it’s possible to achieve as an autistic person. Details on these speakers will be released in the coming weeks.

Autism tree

We will also have an “autism tree”, which will feature leaves that ask visitors to say what autism means to them. The tree will be on display in the main hall on the day. It will be moved to the Leeds City Museum later that week to mark Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month.

Aside from the tree, we have some of the confirmed stallholders. Leeds Autism Services, Specialist Autism Services, Leeds ABC and Leeds Autism AIM will all be there, with many more to be announced later on.

New sponsors

We have secured a couple of sponsors, both of whom we are really appreciative of for supporting our event. The first is the White Rose Shopping Centre and the second are Lookers Nissan in Leeds. With both their support, we can provide the best possible event.

Parking and catering

In addition to that, the Cuthbert Brodrick branch of Wetherspoons have agreed to give visitors to the event a 20% discount on food. This only applies if ordering while the event is happening. At the event itself, the Leeds Civic Hall catering service will be selling hot and cold drinks.

As with last year’s event, CitiPark will be providing discounted parking to any of our visitors. Parking is available at the Merrion Centre for a discounted rate.

To obtain your discount, simply go to the CitiPark multi-storey on the day. Then, bring your ticket to Leeds Autism Services’ stall. They will discount your ticket by 50%.