A Sanctuary

I've decided that instead of being marginalised I will take things into my own hands. I see charities getting tons of money for their projects, even though some are  or appear to be totally useless. Cancer Research for one. I should have prefaced that by saying that Cancer Research have cured exactly '0' people of cancer and have taken billions in donations over the years. sometimes it feels to me that a lot of charities  are purely in it to make well paid jobs for themselves, and I am not alone in that.

In time, when I've accessed grant money etc. I will need the very people I support to help me get further funding in the future via crowdfunding. The irony with crowdfunding is that these companies rely on the instigators to spread the word themselves( Facebook etc.) to get donations, which they take a percentage in money for, usually about 6-10%. I will be asking you all to help  and as Autistic people I expect you to come through. Wouldn't that be irony indeed to ask for help from autistic people to help autistic people and not get it!

The farm we will call 'The Sanctuary' and it will be jobs, training and education for young adults/adults who have Aspergers. In time it may well include people with other issues on the spectrum but we have to start somewhere.Now, who will help me ? 

  • I've supported Cancer Research UK before. Both my parents died from cancer, and I wish they'd had access to the treatments that are available nowadays. But yes, CR is huge and corporate, and there's space for small community projects - which may succeed even if they stay small.

    Wish I could help, but I'm overcommitted and not a good organiser anyway (executive function problems). Hope you find some good people/volunteers/trustees. If you get a good enough proposal together, maybe NAS will support it? You can raise donations in all kinds of ways - online is only one. I think online commissions are fairly small, supposedly smaller for Virgin Giving or BT than JustGiving.

  • I like your idea and would like to help but am not sure how I could.

    PS I do not want to get sidetracked by your Mention of Cancer Research (which supports animal testing) but I understand what you mean. According to Dr. Richard Klausner (former director of the US National Cancer Institute), 'the history of cancer research has been the history of curing cancer in the mouse. We have cured mice of cancer for decades and it simply didn’t work in human beings.' (https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/arguments-against-animal-testing)

  • I will be asking you all to help  and as Autistic people I expect you to come through. Wouldn't that be irony indeed to ask for help from autistic people to help autistic people and not get it!

    I don't expect anything from anyone because they are Autistic. I expect people to give because I have earned their trust in me to invest time and money. The comforting irony is that trust is harder to obtain than money or time.