Active Prospects, a charity supporting autistic people and individuals with learning disabilities, has been awarded £315,000 in National Lottery funding.

The organisation will use the funding to expand its Active Wellbeing Coaching programme, enabling people across Surrey and West Sussex to access personalised wellbeing advice and support.

The programme offers one-to-one coaching sessions, workshops, events and community activities to enable neurodivergent adults with mental health needs to build confidence and meet their personal goals.

Coaches and volunteers who co-produced the programme have experience of neurodivergence and work with recipients to talk through their worries and plan strategies. 

One Wellbeing Coaching member said: “It’s nice to talk to someone who can relate to me and what I have experienced. It helps me believe that what we are doing will actually help.”

Lynsey Way, Clinical Lead at Active Prospects, said: “Watching people in our programme take control of their health, meet their goals, and gain confidence has been amazing.”

Over the next two years, this National Lottery investment will allow Active Prospects to build on the wellbeing programme’s impact, improving emotional wellbeing, reducing loneliness and isolation, and helping more people develop confidence and independence.

It will also help demonstrate the wider value of preventative support, reducing the need for crisis and emergency services and creating benefits for families, carers and the wider health and care system.