Our long-established Help and Connect project helps autistic people and people with learning disabilities in Coventry make a plan, get connections, get work, and stay healthy and safe.
Often we are meeting people in their hardest moments — but this isn’t just about surviving a crisis.
Over a six-month period, we’re building individual strength, resilience and independence — and a community of people who care — so the next time there’s a crisis, if there is one, the person is better equipped to reach the other side. They are stronger, more confident and in control of leading their life the way they want.
We’re sharing a selection of their stories as we welcome more people to join us during April.
Ruth’s story
Even though we know that connecting to our community helps us feel like we belong, those first few steps towards putting ourselves out there can be tough.
When we met Ruth, an isolated young woman from Coventry referred to Help and Connect, she wanted to get out in the world but didn’t know where to start.
She met her connector Michelle and the person-centred plan they made together became:
- One-to-one support on positive friendships and relationships
- Planning time for short trips using public transport in her home city
- Ruth’s first visit to the cinema to watch Zootropolis 2 (10/10, would recommend) and supermarket snack run beforehand to save some money
- Learning how free loyalty programmes can save money and earn rewards
- Introductions to community groups and friendly local organisations that can support Ruth’s creative side, such as Crow Recycling Scrapstore and Creative Kindness
- Accessing her own bicycle through a local scheme
- Meeting her peers on Grapevine’s Health Team who advocate for better health through greater understanding of the barriers faced by people with learning disabilities
- Finding safe spaces in Coventry city centre that Ruth can visit if she’s worried
- Regular ‘Top 2 Toe’ group sessions on topics to keep people safe, healthy and connected.
So what’s next for Ruth? The end of March marked the end of hers and the rest of this group’s six months with us on Help and Connect. They’re planning a group trip to the cinema, travelling together from a meeting point in the city centre.
And thanks to Ruth’s idea to create a book of her family’s favourite recipes, the group has just received free training on using the online graphic design platform Canva from Cov Connects — the same Coventry City Council team behind their free, repurposed laptops.
Working on what people can do — not just what’s gone wrong — builds lasting confidence, capacity and self-belief.
And we believe that’s where stronger futures start. More here.
Canva workshop with Cov Connnects
During March, participants approaching the end of their six months on Help and Connect took part in a special ‘how to use Canva’ workshop at Coventry Central Library.
Armed with their repurposed laptops donated to our project by Cov Connects — the city’s digital inclusion programme by Coventry City Council — it made perfect sense to ask Cov Connects’ digital inclusion coordinator Ramona to run the session. Ramona was supported by colleague Fathema.
Ramona took the group on a tour of Canva; demonstrating what it can do and sharing top tips for getting the best out of the free online graphic design tool.
The driver behind the idea of a Canva workshop was Help and Connect participant Ruth who wanted to create a book of favourite family recipes. Fellow participant Tasha thought this was a great idea too. They will both be adding some of their own recipes to their cookbooks.
Everyone is different — so while Ruth went on to research places to visit one day (including London Bridge and Stonehenge), creating a kind of vision board for future travels, Gary tested out his newly acquired animation skills on an early Easter design before moving on to a cycling themed animation.
Ramona said: “Posters, videos, cookbooks, newsletter and GIFs — you name it! The energy in the room was so wonderful as people learned and created just about anything you can think of! This was, without a doubt, my favourite activity of the week.”
It was a fun session that sparked lots of conversation. And the possibilities are endless — depending on where each person wants to go next in their exploration of the graphic design tool.
In an increasingly digital-first world, many people still don’t have equal access to digital technologies, services and support. Connections many of us take for granted.
Help and Connect is commissioned by Coventry City Council. At the end of 2025, Cov Connects donated 20 MiFi units, 10 mobile phones, nine laptops and a tablet to the programme from their device bank which is helping to tackle digital poverty and reduce electronic waste in Coventry.
Kurt’s story
Kurt was referred by a social prescriber at his GP practice. He had been home alone on his computer for a while after a lack of reasonable adjustments at his workplace gave him no other option but to leave.
His connector Bev got to work getting to know Kurt, understanding what was important to him and what life would be like in an ideal world.
The person-centred plan they developed together describes Kurt as “cheerful, hardworking, caring and a bit shy” with dreams of travelling, friendship and securing paid employment topping his list of immediate goals.
First they developed Kurt’s new CV from which he could work with a job coach at The Job Shop in Coventry city centre. Then onto a weekly programme of Help and Connect group sessions to develop his skills and resilience. Known as ‘Top 2 Toe’, the sessions are linked to a friendly WhatsApp chat group where Kurt could slowly get to know others on the project.
With his sense of belonging and self-confidence growing, Bev connected Kurt to Grapevine’s Health Team — a group of people with learning disabilities bringing education and awareness to peers and health professionals on living longer, healthier lives.
Today, Kurt is a valued member of this team — joining in with campaigns and playing roles, on and off camera, that help dispel common myths around disabled people’s prospects of a healthy, happy life.
He has also brought his own experiences to share on the Help and Connect project, returning most recently to co-deliver a workshop he himself had previously attended on digital skills.
Kurt’s passion for technology is a part of his story and he has successfully used this passion to move from using his computer alone at home to enabling others to use technology to become better connected themselves.
“It gave me a sense of purpose and a reason to go out,” said Kurt.
And now feeling more positive about finding work, he says: “I am going to learn from a bad experience to find something better.”
Learn more about what we do — strengthening people, sparking community and shifting power — here.