London Autism Group Charity is launching a drop-in autism community café for the Greek & Cypriot community
The London Autism Group Charity are launching a new drop-in autism community café scheme for the Greek and Greek Cypriot community of London, although all people from any background are welcome.
The community café will be at the Cypriot Community Centre in Wood Green every last Saturday of the month, at 11am-1pm. The charity is having the brief launch ceremony on 29th October at 10.45am where there will be time to meet the team, answer questions and take some photos.
The scheme is aimed at anyone with an interest or connection with autism and neurodiversity, including Autistics (of any age), parents, carers and allies. It is entirely free, with biscuits, cakes, drinks and sensory toys available, and no pre-registration required.
Regarding what the initiative is trying to achieve, Charity lead, and co-lead of this initiative, Dr Chris Papadopoulos said: “Up to now, there haven’t been any clear and regular opportunities for Greek Autistics – and the wider Greek community – to regularly come together in a safe, inclusive place so they can meet others, relax in a friendly and welcoming space, and, really importantly, feel less isolated. This is really important because autism isn’t something that is very openly discussed in the Greek community, the result of which can mean that autistic people feel misunderstood or rejected. So an initiative like this which has a clear focus on autism in the Greek community, and helps bring people together, can help with that.”
Ellie Kolatsi, a parent of an autistic child and co-lead of the initiative, said: “I am extremely excited to be involved in such a great initiative which is important to me and my family as my son is autistic. It is an opportunity for the Greek community who are autistic or carers of autistic people to connect with each other in a meaningful way. Our aim is to create a space for conversations to happen in a non-judgemental environment and where better than in the heart of our community, the Cypriot Community Centre. We are also fortunate to be able to share information and our experiences every first Thursday evening of the month on London Greek Radio who are also kindly supporting this initiative.”
Sophia Christophi, an autistic adult and co-lead of the initiative, said: “As a Greek Cypriot autistic adult, I have not had much opportunity to talk about autism within the community… until now! I am delighted to be part of this new initiative to help Greek and Greek Cypriots understand more about autism and to promote the social inclusion and acceptance of autistic people. It’s so important for people to have accurate information about autism, and we are fortunate to have a monthly All About Autism show on LGR where we will be discussing various autism-related topics. We extend our thanks to the Cypriot Community Centre for supporting the community café, which will be a great way of bringing people together.”
Dr Chris Papadopoulos – email: chris.papadopoulos@beds.ac.uk, tel: 07719021766
London Autism Group Charity – email: contact@londonautismgroupcharity.org, website: londonautismgroupcharity.org
