This year, our supporters have come out in force! With 35 runners donning their gold acceptance vests for Great North Run, nine intrepid cyclists tackling our cycling challenge overseas, our own services hosting fundraising events, and people thinking of new ways to support us, we would like to take a moment to celebrate some of our top supporters of 2022.

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Craig Huddart

Father-of-four tackles year-long challenge which sees him run 10k every day throughout 2022, except for Sundays when he would instead run a 21.2km half marathon!

Through all the challenges that have been thrown at Craig this year - not limited to starting his own company and catching covid - he’s soldiered on and he’s now at the final leg of the journey.

Craig’s fundraising has already topped £1,800 helping us to continue our lifeline services.

 Read Craig's story.

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Holly Pemberton and James Gordon

In May 2022, Hollie Pemberton and James Gordon trekked to Everest Base Camp in aid of NEAS.

The pair, from Sunderland, took on the once-in-a-lifetime challenge, aiming to raise £1,000 each for NEAS and the Ashleigh Lodge Care Home. Hollie’s nephew had been diagnosed as autistic, so they chose to support an autism charity in the local area.

The base camp sits at an altitude of 5,364m, or 17,598ft above sea level, with the trek taking 15 days to complete from landing in Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu.

Hollie and James smashed their fundraising target, raising an incredible £2,926.59 including Gift Aid for the charity. However, they weren’t finished there – Hollie got in touch with her employer, Hays Travel, and asked about their Match Funding scheme for employee fundraising. Hays matched her fundraising pound-for-pound, giving an overall donation to NEAS of £5,561.59! 

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Clear Data

In April, employees from Cleardata’s Blyth office took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. 

The company is a long-time supporter of NEAS, having been a sponsor on our cycling challenge jerseys since the inaugural ride in 2019. 

The team conquered the gruelling 24-mile route within their 12-hour target. Despite the aches and blisters, the team made it round safely and celebrated their achievements together. 

On top of their efforts on the Yorkshire hills, the team managed to smash their fundraising target, raising a total of £1,220.25 – more than double what they’d been hoping for.

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Ezra Herrington

As part of Autism Acceptance Week, six-year-old Ezra Hetherington set out to walk at least two miles per day and collect litter whilst out, accompanied by his family members and their dog, Betsy.

At the time, Ezra was on a reduced school timetable whilst waiting for a start date for a support worker, following his autism diagnosis.

Ezra’s mum, Kelly, says they were inspired to fundraise during Autism Acceptance Week because they wanted to give back to a charity that supports local families in a similar situation to themselves.

Kelly set up a JustGiving fundraising page to collect donations for NEAS, with a modest target of £50. Within a few hours, the donations had exceeded the target, and kept growing to an amazing £718.75!

Read Ezra's story. 

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NEAS Events

It’s been a bumper year for our organised events as well and we’re incredibly grateful to all the people who booked onto their challenge and fundraised to support our charity.

August’s T6 Challenge saw a team of nine riders sail over to the Netherlands for the latest – and toughest to date - of NEAS’ annual cycling challenges. Through fundraising by the team of riders, plus the generous support of local companies who sponsored the bespoke jerseys the team wore – including LM Global Telecoms, Marsh Commercial and Fleet Recruitment, the total amount raised for NEAS was in excess of £7,700.00 – thank you to all those who contributed.

Just two weeks later, the Great North Run returned to its traditional route. The team, made up of 35 runners, came together to raise a brilliant £16,425.48 to support our lifeline services.

Teams from our own Residential Services also got their hands dirty – quite literally – as they took on Clarty Bairnsover the summer. Braemar Gardens were especially keen to get involved, with all three resident children dragging their support staff over obstacles, through muddy bogs and down a giant water slide!

In June, we teamed up with two other regional autism charities to take part in a Hadrian’s Wall Trek. Two fundraisers from NEAS were joined by teams from Autism Anglia and Autism Hampshire who travelled up to take on a 26-mile trek over two days, with everyone raising funds for their respective charity.

Pledge to join us in 2023.