• to raise funds for Newick House, a West Sussex Special Needs School, which will enable them to acquire technology and educational facilities to better assist the teachers and children in the classrooms;
• to raise funds for The National Autistic Society in order to support them in maintaining the work they do in helping those with autism and their families and carers throughout the United Kingdom;
• to establish links between Newick House School and Beijing Fortune Training School (XinYun School) and consequently provide skills transfer and share knowledge as to how to best assist children with special needs.

What is autism?

Although it was first identified in 1943, autism is still a relatively unknown disability. Yet autistic spectrum disorders are estimated to touch the lives of over 500,000 families throughout the UK. People with autism are not physically disabled in the same way that a person with cerebral palsy may be; they do not require wheelchairs and they 'look' just like anybody without the disability. Due to this invisible nature it can be much harder to create awareness and understanding of the condition. Because an autistic child looks 'normal' others assume they are naughty or the parents are not controlling the child. Strangers frequently comment on this 'failing'.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. Children and adults with autism have difficulties with everyday social interaction. Their ability to develop friendships is generally limited as is their capacity to understand other people's emotional expression. People with autism can often have accompanying learning disabilities but everyone with the condition shares a difficulty in making sense of the world.