SJOG

27/08/2026

Are you a parent or carer of an autistic child in Teesside, or do you know someone who is?

Our free Autism and Mental Health Workshop for Parents and Carers is coming to Middlesbrough, with the first session taking place on Thursday 3rd September and continuing monthly.

To find out more, click here: https://fb.me/e/6uexqmV6A

Or contact the Here to Help team: [email protected]

💚 NEW PARENT WORKSHOPS AT GLOWSTICKS! 💚

We’re really pleased to be welcoming SJOG Here to Help to The Glowsticks Project Café for their FREE Autism & Mental Health Parent Workshop Sessions.

These sessions are designed to give parents and carers practical, useful support around autism and mental health - with information, advice, guidance and strategies you can actually use at home.

📅 First Thursday of every month - starting Thursday 3rd September.
⏰ 2pm – 3.30pm
📍 The Glowsticks Project Café, Dundas Shopping Centre & Indoor Market, Middlesbrough, TS1 1HT

There is no charge to attend. 💚

Please share with any parents or carers who might benefit - sometimes having the right information and someone to talk things through with can make such a difference.

♾️ Autism support
🧠 Mental health support
💬 Advice & guidance
🏠 Practical strategies for home

We’re so happy to be able to host another valuable service for families right here in Middlesbrough. 💚

26/08/2026

As a social care charity, SJOG wants to understand if you are concerned about care, independence, loneliness and having someone to rely on.

Please take a minute to complete this super-quick survey and share your views: https://HarlowConsulting.welcomesyourfeedback.net/c07xsn

Your feedback really matters - thank you for taking part.

Survey closes 1st September.

26/08/2026

It's International Dog Day!
Meet the SDOGs: the furry friends of our SJOG colleagues 🐶

24/08/2026

From parent advocate to Member of Parliament, Alison Hume MP shares how raising a child with complex needs and autism fuelled her determination to improve services and outcomes for autistic people and their families.

Listen to the full conversation in the latest episode of the Here to Help podcast, now available on YouTube and Spotify.

Link in bio.

20/08/2026

Autistic people are at a higher risk of su***de, yet too often face significant barriers to accessing the support they need.

That's why we created Here to Help - a service co-designed alongside autistic people to provide tailored support, accessible information, and training for individuals, families, carers, and professionals, with the aim of reducing suicidality and improving wellbeing.

When we developed Here to Help, there were very few places autistic people could turn to for support that truly understood their needs.

We wanted to change that.

Learn more about Here to Help by visiting our website:
https://www.here2help.uk/

19/08/2026

Doing good in our local communities.

Recently, residents and staff from SJOG's Lindisfarne Court joined volunteers from local community groups to help tidy their local area, improving paths and green spaces so they can be enjoyed by everyone.

Supporting projects like this is something our team regularly takes part in, and we're proud to play our part in helping to keep community spaces welcoming and accessible for all.

Afterwards, everyone was invited back to Lindisfarne Court, where volunteers enjoyed some well-earned hospitality.

One volunteer said:

"The volunteers had the pleasure of meeting some of the wonderful residents at Lindisfarne Court, who afterwards made everyone feel so welcome and treated the team to delicious homemade scones and plenty of cups of tea."

As Hospitality is one of our core values, it was important to us that everyone felt welcome, appreciated and thanked for their efforts after a morning of hard work.

A huge thank you to everyone involved, including Haughton Matters, Darlington Carers, the Government Property Agency (GPA), Darlington Economic Campus (DEC), and colleagues from Turner & Townsend, Tetra Tech, WSP, Ryder Architecture and Kier.

17/08/2026

A few months ago, our Here to Help team met with Alison Hume MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism and MP for Scarborough and Whitby, to introduce the Here to Help project.

During that meeting, we agreed to continue the conversation through a podcast. On Friday, our Head of Complex Needs, Toni Fyfe and Here to Help Manager, Meryem Coban Cetinkaya, sat down with Alison to record the episode.

Meryem said:

"Alison brought so much value to the conversation through both her personal lived experience and her knowledge of policy. We had a great discussion about how organisations can help bridge service gaps and how we can work alongside leaders to create meaningful support for the community."

Thank you to Alison for taking the time to share her insights with us.

The full podcast episode will be available soon on Spotify and YouTube.

11/08/2026

Here to Help Manager, Meryem, is speaking at the 2026 Autistic Mental Health Conference this weekend.

Speaking about her session, Meryem said:
'In this session, I will focus on the impactful work driven by SJOG and how we can reshape support systems through co-designed solutions.

We will explore how partnering directly with people with lived experience leads to life-saving su***de prevention, addresses the specific barriers autistic individuals face, and creates truly neuro-affirming care spaces.'

Meryem will be presenting online, but you can attend the conference either virtually or in person in Brighton.

Register and learn more: www.neurohubcommunity.org

05/08/2026

At SJOG, inclusion means making sure no one is left behind.

So when colleague Pinar was recovering from an ankle injury and couldn't attend a team catch-up, her colleagues did the next best thing... they took the meeting to her!

Colleagues from our MDS service gathered at Pinar's home, where they shared homemade dishes from their Turkish, Yemeni, Egyptian and Middle Eastern heritage.

From Pinar's homemade Turkish dolma, sigara böreği and cacık, to Alhoussein's Egyptian koshary, Yarin's oyster mushrooms with tahini salad and Amr's (or his wife's!) Yemeni shaffout, the catch-up became a celebration of culture and inclusion.

Project Worker Amr reflected on the day:

"It turned into something far more meaningful than just a catch-up. It was a beautiful example of inclusion, connection and psychological safety in practice. A space where everyone felt valued, comfortable and able to share a part of themselves through food, culture and conversation."

Moments like these show that diversity is about more than representation. It's about creating spaces where people feel safe enough to be themselves.