mASCot 2025: A Year in Review
As this year comes to a close, mASCot wants to look back and reflect on what has been an amazing and full 2025. Together, we’ve achieved so much, grown stronger and bigger as a community, and set the bar high again for an eventful, busy 2026.
Membership Growth
2025 saw our membership grow! With over 400 new members joining our amazing community, we’re now bigger and stronger than ever. This increase in families wanting to join mASCot is a testament to the vibrant, supportive network we’ve built together, a space where our autistic individuals and families thrive and be supported by each other.
Fundraising Highlights
2025 once again has been a year of incredible generosity and teamwork. Members and supporters have gone above and beyond to raise funds for mASCot.
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Firstly a big thank you to all of the kind people who regularly donate to mASCot creating a very valued, steady contribution to the running of mASCot.
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Last Christmas Amy Richardson & all in B&H City Brass Band raised over £1000 for mASCot, what a great way to start 2025.
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A massive thank-you to Daryl, who held an autism awareness day at his place of work and raised £803.00 for mASCot!
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Tor, Ian & Caroline who ran & swam to raise over £1,000 for mASCot.
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The Barcombe Bonfire Society who chose mASCot to donate their collection from their Bonfire night street collection and Raised over £200, adding to the pot of well needed funds.
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And finally we had our mASCot Christmas Top Up which so far has raised just over £800 from members
We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped mASCot in 2025, whether through donations, time, or creative fundraising ideas!
Projects and Programs
We have continued to run our regular projects in 2025, providing spaces for connection, creativity, and support.
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The Café has settled in to their new venue and is a wonderful community, a place for our over 14’s to volunteer, learn skills and connect. Thank you Mimi & Monica for all the work you put into supporting this project 💚
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Lego Club is a great place for all our creative youngsters to meet and play. Thank you Fauve 🧡
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The Girls Group is going strong and providing a unique environment for our amazing autistic girls. Thank you Lynn 💙
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The mASCot Coffee Club and meet-ups have always been a hub for members to connect and share experiences. Thank you Sam, Barbs & Charlie for hosting these 💚
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Our youth groups, including the Tuesday Club, Inbetweeners, and Teens+, have offered much-needed spaces for our young members to socialize and grow. A huge thanks to Jo & Mimi 🧡
unfortunately out Teen+ has not been able to run the latter part of the year as we haven’t had anyone to take on the running of it, so if anyone is interested in becoming part of the mASCot Projects Team, then let us know.
Meanwhile, Mimi has completed all her training and offers her wonderful soundbath therapy sessions & therapies at reduced prices for our members. She continues to pursue collaborations with other organisations, bringing innovative experiences to our community. Pride was also a big event again on the mASCot calendar with Mimi & Jo creating a safe space for out Teens to hang out.
Behind the scenes, Sam and Paula have been tirelessly working to improve services for autistic individuals and families. They’ve been pushing local authorities and schools to better meet the needs of our community, ensuring that everyone is aware of what we need.
Sam is always busy running her one-to-one support sessions and coffee mornings, which have been a lifeline for so many members, as well as all the behind the scenes running of mASCot including managing the forum, website and the bulk of all the admin.
Sam also ran the first of our new Parent Workshops, which will be covering many topics over the coming months, and also took a group from the BNC camping again, which was a wonderful experience as usual.
Other fun things this year included the mASCot Picnic in the Park, which was such a lovely day, just a shame the rain came and scattered us at the end.
We attended the SEND Seminar where mASCot were very vocal, as usual, in expressing the failure in meeting many of our mASCot families needs.
We were also involved in A Time for Autism for the 4th year running and we’re really proud to be part of this important piece of work.
Team mASCot
This year we said good bye to Jo & Laura as Directors, thank you both for all the work and time you have put in to helping mASCot be the wonderful community it is today.
We also said hello to Al, Diana, Nancy, Rachel, Sarah & Stacy who have come onboard as our team of Trustees to help steer mASCot into new beginnings.
Our other new volunteers include Alma, Emma, Kelly, Julie & Sarah who are our Funding Crew, we will all be working hard in the new year to get some funding applications out.
Also Elsje, Fauve, Natasha, & Sylvia who are our Mod Squad and help me moderate the mASCot forums.
Thank you all for stepping forward to be part of Team mASCot, don’t forget if you have time and energy to help us out then let us know.
Adult Autistic Community
This year has been another amazing year for the Brighton Neurodivergent Community which is growing daily. Their membership has soared to over 400 members, the group provides incredible opportunities for connection, fun & friendships through activities like pub meets, sober nights, bowling, and game nights. Their dedication to building a strong, supportive adult autistic community in Brighton has been truly inspiring and is being recognised around Brighton as an important autism support network, Bill has recently joined the B&H Adult Autism Partnership Board and will be proactive in feeding back to the LA & NHS what local autistics adults need. Thank you Bill & Leigh 💚
The Heart of mASCot: Our Members
The success of the mASCot community is down to our amazing members. Whether it’s answering questions, offering advice & guidance, or simply lending a listening ear, you’ve kept the forum alive with kindness, empathy, and understanding. You’ve made mASCot the supportive community it is today. Thank you mASCoteers 🧡
All our thoughts are with Rachael Ellis one of our long standing members who we lost this year, our thoughts are with all her family 🧡🐝
What’s ahead for 2026
As we look ahead to 2026, we’re all excited to pursue new opportunities alongside our ongoing projects.
Securing essential funding remains a top priority, enabling us to continue our work and launch fresh initiatives and new collaborations.
We look forward to running our new parent workshops which will be starting at the end of January as well as hosting our
We’re proud to be collaborating with Kirsty who will be running her transition courses also with Jacqueline who will be offering legal surgery sessions and I’m sure this list will grow ensuring practical support for all.
Even more initiatives are in the pipeline, and together, we’ll shape a vibrant and inclusive year ahead if we all work together, so if you have any fundraising ideas or proposals, let us know, if there is something you think you could run for our mASCot members, let us know.
Finally, as we look forward to 2026, we’re excited to continue growing, supporting one another, and advocating for better services and opportunities for our members. Thank you for being part of this journey—we couldn’t do it without you!
Here’s to another year of making a difference together.
