The 2017 edition of #BiggerAndBetterInLeeds was held in the Banqueting Suite of Leeds Civic Hall on Monday 3rd April. The event ran between 9.30am and 3pm and is free to enter for all visitors.

There were a variety of different stalls from autism services in and near Leeds. We had two speakers confirmed:

Janine Booth

Janine Booth is an autistic activist, trade unionist and performance poet. She is the author of Autism Equality in the Workplace, a book featuring many autistic people’s stories about finding and keeping work.

Her talk will be about the book, the difficulties that many workplaces cause for autistic people and how we can overcome them.

Anna Kennedy OBE

A mother of two sons who have been diagnosed with autism, Anna Kennedy OBE is a famous autism campaigner who has helped to set up schools for autistic children. She has also had a book published and founded Autism’s Got Talent, a showcase for autistic people to demonstrate their various skills.

She has just recently won The Humanitarian Award at the International Recognition Achievement Awards in Central London. Here’s Anna in her own words:

“Ever since I started my own journey with my own boys Patrick and Angelo and wanting to help and support those who like them have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition I am frustrated and disappointed with the lack of facilities and support across the UK. Groups like Bigger and Better in Leeds are helping to raise further autism awareness and hopefully acceptance.”

Stalls and info

At the 2017 event, we had plenty of stalls for local autism services. On the ground floor of the Leeds Civic Hall’s Banqueting Suite, we had children’s services. On the first floor, just outside the main hall, adult services were present.

Here are the floor plans for 2017, showing where each stall was located.

Parking

CitiPark offered discounted parking at their multi-storey car park at the Merrion Centre. It’s just 10 minutes’ walk from the Civic Hall and you can get 50% off parking if you’re coming to our event!

For more info, please visit the Directions and parking page.