Adult services for the Havering autistic community face an uncertain future, with the Sycamore Trust Autism Hub in Romford facing closure.

Sycamore Trust UK has provided a service for Havering's autistic adults from the Autism Hub in Romford since 2015, but the service is threatened with closure following a decision from the London Borough of Havering to withdraw funding.

Since opening in 2015, the Hub has offered a vast array of services designed to support an often misunderstood and regularly overlooked group of people in Havering. With around 700,000 autistic people in the UK, many of us know a family or individual that lives with Autism every day.

Sycamore's services to the Havering autistic community include a peer group for young adults, an outreach service for hard-to-reach adults and the Autism Steering Group, which feeds into the LBH Autism Strategy.

In addition, the Sycamore Hub has supported adults with applications for PIP, help with housing, employment and education issues and more importantly, offered a safe space where autistic adults are welcomed without judgement.

Council officials have indicated that there are other services in Havering that support autistic adults, but these do not address their needs or provide them with with support for seeking employment, creating social connections and helping with benefit, legal or housing difficulties.

Sycamore Trust understands that a final decision on funding of services for Havering autistic adults is not expected until 7th December and we urge everyone to sign this petition and encourage LBH to save the Sycamore Trust service for autistic adults in Havering.