Safer Sphere, a national health and safety consultancy, has pledged a £2,000 donation and a year’s worth of fundraising to support the PDA Society. 

Staff at Safer Sphere will undertake fundraising challenges including the Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool Bike Ride to support the PDA Society and company Chairman Mike Forsyth said he has a personal reason for selecting the PDA Society as his child has a diagnosis of PDA.

Mr Forsyth said: “I know first-hand how misunderstood PDA is. Life for my child and other PDA people is much harder than it needs to be, mainly because hardly anyone knows about it, or about what helps. As a parent I see the difference I can make to my child’s wellbeing by changing my approach, I want other families to benefit from information and support too – which is why this year we’re fundraising for the PDA Society. The team at Safer Sphere has been so supportive and we’re excited to see just how much money we can raise for this important cause.”

Angelique Forsyth, Safer Sphere’s Director of Legal & Human Resources, said: “PDA means that individuals can struggle to comply with everyday demands and unfortunately, this avoidance is often viewed as defiance or laziness. As parents, we have seen how employing simple strategies to reduce demands and reframe necessary demands with less confrontational language has helped our child to become less anxious and better able to enjoy everyday life. We’re over the moon to be supporting the PDA Society this year.”

As part of their fundraising efforts, the Safer Sphere team will ride from Liverpool to Chester and back again on July 2, raising awareness of PDA and collecting sponsorship along the way, with all proceeds going to the PDA Society.

Ed Archer, CEO of the PDA Society, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Safer Sphere as our first official corporate partner. The generosity and enthusiasm of the team has been so humbling – I know they are committed to making the greatest possible difference to PDA people across England and Wales this year. PDA people are often left out, misunderstood and ignored because the way they act is not what people expect of Autistic people, and this can have a devastating impact on their daily lives. It means the world that Safer Sphere are standing with the PDA community this year, saying ‘we see you, we believe you and we care enough to take action’. I’m excited to see the difference the team make this year.”

If you would like to follow the Safer Sphere team’s fundraising and awareness raising efforts this year – you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and any donations to help them meet their target would be greatly appreciated.

Do you own or work for a company looking for a charity to support? We’d love to speak to you about partnering with the PDA Society. Please contact info@pdasociety.org.uk and see this Team PDA email to find our more. Thank you.