Laura Redfern - Chair

Founder member of the group and 'chair' leading the group forward.

  Helen Hassell - Joint Deputy Chair 

I am Helen and have 2 adult children, Karl and Liam. Karl has complex needs, physical and learning disabilities with autism and anxiety.  I have supported families over the last 15 years, in a voluntary capacity, to navigate the health, care and education systems through several organisations.  I may not always have the answers but will listen and learn with you.  As vice chair of N&S autism support group, I bring a wide experience of the health system in particular through other local and national roles, which I can then share with others. I am passionate about personalised care and will champion this for our children and young people!

  Sarah Twiner - Joint Deputy Chair.

My name is Sarah and I am one of the founding members of the group and over the years I have held multiple roles including chair, trips and events organiser, secretary and social media officer. I have a wealth of both professional and personal experience supporting autistic individuals and their families built up over 20 plus years. I myself am a parent to 2 young adults, a teenager and child between them they have multiple health conditions, not including me, with a diagnosis of Autism, one going through diagnosis process. Three of them have a diagnosis of epilepsy, one with a learning disability as well as ADHD, sleeping problems, sensory processing issues and anxiety!

I am a passionate advocate for autistic individuals and their families and currently work as family hub coordinator for a regional autism charity.

My experience and roles over the years help me in my role as chair as they enable me to provide up to date support and signposting to appropriate services.

    Claire Teague - Social Media Admin. and FaceBook

  Richard Miller -

  Treasurer, Web Site Admin. and Joint Secretary

Retired Electrical Engineer with special interests in sound systems for the hearing impaired and video production, Richard has 6 children and 9 grandchildren and, with his wife, Lucy, are founder members of the group.  Richard and Lucy  have two 'grown up' daughters.  Currently the older one is working in a special needs school in Doncaster.  Their youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism at age 6 in 2005.  She had a particularly difficult time in secondary school and college.  Having left that behind her she now lives successfully on her own with her dog in rented accommodation and is studying with OU a course in Creative Writing.  

  Lucy Miller - Joint Secretary

Lucy is a founder member of the group.  With husband, Richard, they have two 'grown up' daughters.  The older one is working in a special needs school in Doncaster.  Her younger sister was diagnosed with autism at age 6 in 2005.  She had a particularly difficult time in secondary school and college.  Having left that behind her she now lives successfully on her own with her dog in rented accommodation and is studying with OU a course in Creative Writing.  In early 2020, Lucy finally secured a formal diagnosis of Autism for herself after a 5 year long battle involving many health professionals.