Aspirations

The Aspirations programme is an educational programme for people with social communication difficulties such as Asperger's Syndrome.

It aims to equip young people and adults with transferable skills and strategies for life in the community and for future employment by engaging them in a variety of activities.

The learning activities are negotiated with the learners and include:

• computing
• healthy living
• local studies
• people skills/key skills
• living in the community
• independent living skills
• work readiness skills
• the world of work

Work placement and work experience are investigated for those people who would like a job.

Learners attend in a variety of ways for up to four days a week. Some attend full-time, some as a day release from work or college where they are experiencing social difficulties, and some do voluntary work as part of their week.

The learners keep a portfolio of their work, which is used as evidence for accreditation through the National Open College Network and other relevant accrediting bodies.

Learners can be referred onto the programme by families, social workers, community psychiatric nurses, psychologists, group homes, Connexions personal advisors, the National Autistic Society, and by other programmes, as part of a progression route for individuals.

For more information on the Aspirations programme, or to find out about enrolling, email us using this link or call us at 01223 811662.

Aspirations' outreach programme into Cambridge

Red2Green is expanding its Aspirations programme, for young people aged 16 to 25 with Asperger's Syndrome or social communication difficulties, into the centre of Cambridge. This project is specifically for young people on the autistic spectrum of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan origin who live in or around the city.

For more information click here.

Researching local history

Somewhere in Harvey's Barn (Red2Green's learning centre) Mr R. Harvey etched his name and dated the time as 1774. This discovery sparked a local history project with Aspirations students, discovering more about the barn and life in the surrounding village of Swaffham Bulbeck during the 18th century.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund's Young Roots fund, the students got involved in a real variety of local history activities, including visiting museums, creating three dimensional displays, inviting local historians to speak and making papier mache examples of earthenware dishes and jugs.

For more about this project click here.