About Us
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Welcome to All About Us
At All About Us, we create safe, inclusive spaces where young people with additional needs can connect, learn, and belong.
Across Northern Ireland, many autistic young people and families experience isolation, anxiety, and a lack of understanding.
We exist to change that by building welcoming communities where difference is valued, voices are heard, and everyone feels they matter. Belonging isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.
Who We Are
All About Us is a registered charity based in Antrim. We support autistic children, young people, and adults, including those without a formal diagnosis, alongside their families. Our work is shaped by lived experience and professional knowledge and guided by the people we support.
Everything we do focuses on strengths, not limitations. We create opportunities that help individuals feel confident, capable, and included. We don’t ask people to fit into systems. We adapt systems to fit people.
Understanding Autism
Autism is part of everyday life. Around one in twenty people in the UK are autistic, meaning every school, workplace, and community includes autistic individuals.
Every person’s experience is different. Communication, sensory needs, and social interaction can vary greatly, there is no single autistic experience.
At All About Us, we believe difference should be celebrated, not hidden. Our aim is not to help young people “fit in” but to help them feel understood, respected, and supported to be themselves.
When communities make space for everyone, everyone benefits.
What We Do
We provide social, recreational, and educational opportunities shaped around the interests and needs of our young people.
Each week, our sessions offer time for friendship, creativity, learning, and fun, from arts and cooking to games, wellbeing activities, and life skills.
Alongside this, we deliver programmes in Personal Development and Independent Living, helping young people build confidence and practical skills for everyday life. We also offer one-to-one family support for those navigating diagnosis, emotional wellbeing challenges, or major life changes, as well as outreach sessions for families in rural or isolated areas.
Our newest project, the Pop-In Community Café, will soon open as a social enterprise, offering supported training, volunteering, and employment pathways in a friendly, inclusive environment.
Everything we do is flexible, person-centred, and based on one simple belief that everyone has potential.
Awards & Recognition
We’re proud to have our work recognised at both local and national levels:
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King’s Award for Voluntary Service – the MBE for voluntary groups 2024
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Runner-up, Pride of Place Awards 2023
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Mayor’s Charity of the Year 2025
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Recognised partnerships with the Housing Executive, Social Services, PSNI, and CYPSP
These awards are a reflection of our community, our staff, volunteers, families, and young people — who bring passion and purpose to everything we do.
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We believe all everyone can embrace who they are,
can define their future, and can change the world.
What our young people say about us:
"Through All About Us I have developed myself in many ways with the opportunities I have been provided, including different training opportunities and programmes that have helped me grow. I began at All About Us as a volunteer, where I had a role in helping the young people at our meetups by taking part in activities with them to help encourage participation. Through volunteering I was given training opportunities such as First Aid, Safeguarding, and various awareness courses such as Mental Health Awareness, Autism Awareness and ADHD Awareness. Alongside these courses I took part in Food Hygiene courses, where I was able to learn how to safely cook and handle food. This allowed me to take part in what was our Winter Warmers, now called Grub Club. This allowed me to interact with members of the community and get to know the people around me, alongside helping to improve anxiety. From these responsibilities I was given a part time job with All About Us, being given a wage to work at the Grub Club and help with various other activities around the club. This helped teach me more about the responsibilities and precautions a paid worker would have to go through in the workplace, greatly improving my knowledge of the world of work. This wage also helped me to become more independent, with how I handled my money becoming more relevant to my everyday life. Overall, working with All About Us has greatly improved my life in many different aspects including creating a safe workplace where I can learn and grow in a nurturing environment. I feel anyone could benefit from working within club with a wide variety of different opportunities for development in a multitude of different areas."
