Suffolk New College 'Autzine' Students up for an Award

Students from Suffolk New College have been short-listed for the finals of a national competition recognising their work on a magazine and website for Young People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and ADHD.

 ‘Autzine’, the original idea of Asten Clarke for her final project for her Art & Design qualification, is a quarterly magazine produced by a core group of six young people who are affected by either ASD or ADHD for people with the same condition. It has been supported by ASDat, Suffolk Mind and Suffolk New College, with the 3 organisations providing space, equipment and support.

 The prestigious National Council For Voluntary Youth services ‘Young Partners’ Awards ceremony will be held in Glaziers Hall in London on Saturday 15 October. The Award is supported and funded by BIG Lottery.  It celebrates and recognises youth leadership and what young people can achieve through working in equal partnership with adults in organisations and projects.

The ‘Midlands’ category will see the team from ‘Autzine’ competing against the ‘K9 Project’, a group based in Cambridgeshire working with children and young people using dogs and ‘Vision’, a Youth Café in Towcester.

Judging took place at an event in Birmingham during August, when the young people had to run workshops highlighting the barriers young people experience when trying to access the project because of the needs they have, whilst running a market stall promoting the magazine. At the event in London they also have to run an interactive market stall to promote their individual projects.

Annie Clements, the founder of ASDat, who is supporting the ‘Autzine’ magazine at Suffolk New College said, “All the young people involved have worked extremely hard on the project and are really excited to have got this far. It has been an incredibly positive experience for all them to see their work acknowledged in this way, and whilst we obviously would love to win, they have also learnt so much from the journey that they can all add to their CV’s. ”. 

Dave Muller added, “We are so thrilled that the students have been recognised in this way. So much hard work and dedication has helped to create this service and provide information for young people who often feel isolated and unable to share their experiences.”