Tom's campaign blog #5: Push for Action so far… in numbers!

It has been almost four months since we launched our latest major campaign, Push for Action, our new campaign to influence the Government’s review of the adult autism strategy and improve the support that adults across England receive.

So much has happened since May, we thought we’d break it down for you in numbers to make it a little more digestible…

8,098 of you have signed the online petition to support the campaign. This is a record number for an NAS campaign (our previous best was 6,000 for the Autism Act) and it really helps us get national and local decision-makers to listen. We’ve already sent every MP a local dossier with the names and comments from all of their constituents and we’ll be delivering the full petition to 10 Downing Street in October.

4 national policy wins for the campaign since launch, and counting. Among other things, the Government have agreed to our demands to improve data collection, to make the self-assessment checks tougher for local authorities and to consult people properly as part of their review. A great start, but a long way to go.

19 local and regional autism charities have signed up as partners in the campaign, and along with our army of NAS branches, are championing Push for Action and campaigning for changes where they are. Read about what’s been happening in Hayle, Bedfordshire and Furness on our blog.

45 shops in Godalming, Surrey are now hosting brilliant autism awareness posters after the adults at our Horizons service pushed for action in their local area.

61 MPs turned up to our launch event in parliament and new independent research found that 35% of MPs are now supporting the campaign. With plenty of exciting Westminster action scheduled for October, that figure should continue to rise as we turn up the heat in parliament.

11 stops on our tour of the Travelling Button! Our big red button will be making its way round the country in October to pay tribute to some of our action hotspots and help us raise more awareness of the campaign. Watch this space to see if it will be coming to a town near you!

6 months still to go until the Government reports on the Autism Strategy Review, so that’s six months more to keep building the pressure. There’s plenty you can still do, whether that’s getting autism on your local NHS’ agenda, taking part in a Government focus group and completing their survey, sharing our campaign infographic and video, or signing our petition if you still haven’t done that!

Keep an eye on this blog for more updates.

Tom Madders,
Head of Campaigns