Ambitious North East Autism Society development enters phase two
Part of our ongoing Growing Futures appeal, the second phase of development will see several new buildings erected – including a cider mill, a farm shop, and a café.
Team Story
Four decades dedicated to NEAS
Tony Young started at NEAS as a maintenance worker, responsible for odd jobs and repairs at what was then the Society’s only service – a residential school at No.21 in Sunderland.
Almost 40 years on, Tony is still working at the Society, but has seen his job change radically as NEAS has grown and grown.
First, Thornhill Park School spread across two more sites, Carley Hill in Sunderland and the White House in South Shields.
Then the charity purchased more properties in the Thornhill Park area in the 1990s, including No.14 and No.24, and our first residential home at No.8 in 1997.
Tony, 58, (pictured below with his son) says: “I was just young when I started in 1985, and there were just two of us in the team with a couple of buildings. Everyone knew everyone back in the day.
“Then the Society got bigger and bigger and we had about 10 houses to do in and around Sunderland. It changed really fast.”
In 2013 came the charity’s most ambitious project to date – renovating and opening the North East Centre for Autism in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. Tony was moved there but struggled with the extra commute between there and his Sunderland home.
So he spoke to managers about it and they supported him to switch roles to a Programme Support Worker with Adult Day Services, helping to deliver personalised social and vocational programmes at No.24 in Sunderland.
Tony says the move a year and a half ago has given his career a new lease of life.
"At first I didn't think I could have done it. But there are great staff here that help you and I'm really enjoying it."
“It’s nice to really get to know the adults we support, and to work with a variety of people. We do all sorts of activities and support people to access the community, sometimes on the bus, on an outing or on a walk. Every day is different.
“It’s all still quite new to me and I am still learning. But it’s very rewarding and it has changed my life.”
Even though his job – and the Society – have changed over the years, Tony still sees a lot of familiar faces in his work. Three of the adults he helps support at No.24 were small children at Carley Hill school when he first met them.
“I’ve seen some of the people who use our services grow up,” he says. “They’re now living in our residential homes and attending No. 24, and I’ve known them the whole time. It’s lovely.”
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