Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I'd be very interested in honest(!) feedback and ideas about the project which I'm running for autistic children. At the moment, it a voluntary weekend activity for me but I'm wondering if it can become a part-time job.
Last September, I set up "Engine Shed - South London" (www.engineshedlondon.com) which is a special interest group for autistic children and young people who like trains. They can design, build and play with our huge collection of Brio, Tomy and Hornby trains in a welcoming, safe and relaxing environment. They remain engaged for up to 2 hours, working alongside other autistic children with very little adult involvement, although their parents/carers are there.
We have up to 20 children at each weekend session, aged 3 to 13, and the adults enjoy the opportunity to talk without worrying about their children's behaviour being judged. The children can just be themselves and do what they want - we have teenagers playing with Brio and "Thomas the Tank Engine". We judge their happiness by the levels of stimming, vocalising and running around the room! The children are having fun, as well as developing social and communication skills as they work together.
We currently run weekend open days and events in school holidays. I'm getting really positive feedback from parents and autism professionals who have attended our events. However, I've got 12 huge boxes of trains which only get used once or twice a month. I know there is huge demand for our activities in other locations, but I've only got so much time I can give as a volunteer. I need to look at ways to generate some income.
To make this a part-time job, I need to develop some *daytime* activities which would bring in income. This could help to subsidise the weekend activities. Donations from parents are currently our only source of income (usually £5 per child), which cover venue hire and wear and tear on the trains.
Any feedback/ideas would be much appreciated.
Richardwww.engineshedlondon.com
Brilliant - it's great that you are able to do this.
I'm not sure it will form a business opportunity because of the maths.
I work backwards from the total salary you'd want & costs of running it added together - and then divide it across a year to work out how much you'd need to charge and how much you'd need to generate every month.
Then you'd have to estimate how many people would be interested in paying regularly all year for your services. Also, kids grow up so there'll be those that leave and you've got to get new customers in.
It sounds like a lovely thing to do - maybe you could try running it during the summer holidays to gauge the interest.
Also - would any preserved railways near you provide a permanent space for you - it may bring extra money in for them.
Yes, doing basic maths on this doesn't add up a lot the moment. However, as I struggle with "normal" jobs, I'm trying to find a way to run my own business and make this work. I may have to mix and match with other things.
Could you apply for funding from the council as an outreach project? If you're providing a popular sevice to the disabled community, they miight throw a couple of quid at you. May not be a fortune, but it might help.
Unfortunately you need to be a registered charity/business (which is 2/3 years down the line for me) to get contracts from the council, and they don't have much money to spare for extra things which they aren't currently providing.