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Start up

NAS94284

My partner and I, both of whom have practical and professional experience, are considering starting up a project, to assist neurodiverse people towards and into work. If there is any guidance on financial support, we would love to hear about it. This would be in the Staffordshire region. 

Thanks.

  • in reply to Iain

    Much appreciated. 

  • If you are going to set it up as a charity then there is a decent guide on that here:

    https://startups.co.uk/guides/how-to-start-a-charity/

    This may get you access to funds more readily although I'm not sure exactly where to start with this - may be able to point you in the direction of advice or someone who knows more.

    If it is just to be setup as a limited company then it is much simpler - there is a guide here:

    https://www.gov.uk/set-up-limited-company

    I would consider some of the costs, not least liability insurance as you will be working with people who are sometimes unpredictable (largely through previous trauma or sensory overloads) and this can lead to complications.

    It may also be helpful to speak to some larger recruitment body in your area in case they would consider sponsoring you in exchange for their branding being used with you or similar.

    A good starting point is to put together a realistic careers guide for the neurodiverse to give them food for thought in chosing a career that is likely to work for them. Shoehorning them into traditional roles with a high probability of failure is not a route I recommend, but to a degree you have to respect their wishes and aspirations.

    I find it helps guide them through the thought processes of seeing where their interests and limitations can work to give a fulfilling career as this helps the classic autistic challenge of anxiety way more than a stressful job with better pay does.

    I do a lot of work with school leavers going to work here in Brazil and I do all my work freelance - unpaid charity work on my part which I can afford to do but if this is to be your career then you need to work out how to make it pay. Who will foot the bill - employee or employer?

    The charitable donations will be hard to obtain if most of them go towards a salary for you so you need a business model that can pay the bills and be ethical.

    Food for thought I hope.