The organisation

Established in 1997 by a group of parents, Treehouse is concerned with autism education. It runs a North London school for 80 children with a pupil/teacher ratio of one to one; it provides a national information service for children and their families; it trains practitioners in autism education; and it undertakes research, policy and campaigning work with decision-makers nationwide.

The programme

Treehouse needed a new centre from which to continue its important work. The Trust purchased the land for £1 million in 2004 with funding from a range of different foundations and moved into temporary accommodation on the site whilst building took place. Due to be completed in 2007, the new building is now a home for all four strands of Treehouse’s work.

How it fulfilled our aims as an organisation

This programme provided an excellent match with the objectives of The Foundation within the Education sector. Through its wide range of activities, The Treehouse Trust is helping to reduce exclusion of people with autism and is a good example of integrating direct service delivery with research and policy. Treehouse has also offered assistance to three new schools in its Applied Behaviour Analysis model.

How we helped

The Foundation had previously contributed £1500 in 2003 towards a different strand of Treehouse’s work. In 2006 we provided £25,000 towards this new programme.

“My eight year old son Danny has autism, and he is a lovely, happy, playful little boy… Danny’s good fortune is located in his attendance at Treehouse. His progress is remarkable – he listens, he copies, he plays, he has fun, he has a special friend. This is something of a miracle given what the textbooks say about autism.” Nick Hornby, Author