Connect Without Limits
Autism Group
Our Journey
Connect Without Limits is a community interest company which support those with Autism or Autistic traits.
Here is the story of our journey year by year, with still plenty more chapters to add…
The Roots – 2020
There was a service called Connect that supported young people with Autism, run by three lovely people called Tina, Pete and Wendy. This was a place where young people with Autism could socialise and learn how to interact with others. Many Autistic young people, including our co-founders Bronwyn and Ollie, found this service hugely beneficial.
This ran until September 2021 as unfortunately their funding was stopped.
Stumped – 2021
The closure of the service was a big deal for the members as it offered an avenue of support that they had been craving but struggling to find.
Two of these members then approached Tina wondering if there was any way to keep this kind of service running, knowing from personal experience how helpful a service like this can be for struggling individuals with Autism.
It initially started out as a Facebook group chat where the young people who had started to bond while at Connect could avoid losing contact with each other. This core group of young people have since joined Connect Without Limits and many of whom are still attending groups to this day.
Planting the Seeds – 2021
Plans were then put in place to create our own Community Interest Company, with branding and long-term goals amongst a big brainstorm.
The name ‘Connect Without Limits’ was agreed due to our ethos of preventing isolation and encouraging inclusion.
Working slowly and thoroughly together in the background through lots and lots of admin, the team successfully created Connect Without Limits C.I.C. which was officially born in March 2022.
Turning a new Leaf – 2022
On 19th March 2022, we became an official company on ‘Companies House’.
We continued voluntarily running regular Social Group zooms with our young people, many of whom joined us from the pilot and were both relieved and grateful to have this outlet following the frightening uncertainty of previous months. From here we began receiving multiple referrals from young people desperate for connection with like minded people, and they bonded impressively quickly with our supportive cohort from the pilot service.
The year culminated with an Autism-friendly Christmas party, where we exclusively hired out a local rugby club to offer our CWL group members the opportunity to meet each other in person for the first time. They enjoyed the night so much that we wanted to make in-person meet-ups a regular thing.
Growth Spurt – 2023
Our cohort of young people continued to grow fairly rapidly and our more experienced group members helped our new referrals feel welcome and included, creating a real family vibe to CWL.
We began regular collaborations with several big names in the local community – including the Essex County Council and disability advisors from the DWP – while we started attending All Age Autism Partnership Boards that featured representatives from other local organisations supporting neurodiverse individuals.
2023 also saw us collaborate with the Essex Youth Service to hire a local Autism-friendly venue in Harwich to host regular in-person meet-ups, where the young people hugely enjoyed meeting in person for themed sessions, including games nights, arts and crafts sessions and quiz nights.
Branching Out – 2024
The feedback from our Harwich meet-ups were so overwhelmingly positive that we expanded these activities to a youth centre in Colchester, while continuing regular sessions with our Harwich cohort. These activities included collaborations with Signals for Digital Art themed workshops, the Electric Palace cinema for private film screenings, and a five-week Community Art Project.
One of the most rewarding parts of the year was the launch of our Hazel Group, for young people aged 13-17. The demand for our service from this age group, plus a desire to connect with people in their age range, created a group of extremely supportive young people who welcome new people with open arms and enjoy catching up with each other. This group quickly became eager to meet up in person and maintain their connection through a CWL-facilitated Discord group.
Blossoming – 2025
2025 saw us continue to branch out our activities to other locations, notably Clacton, Frinton and Ipswich. These meet-ups included more regular Autism-friendly cinema trips, Escape Rooms and a collaboration with Exotic Explorers, who provided our young people the opportunity to meet a variety of animals.
We also launched new Blossom and Oak groups, smaller groups specifically designed for young people to discuss more serious topics, for example health issues that they do not feel comfortable disclosing and describing on larger groups.
One of our proudest achievements of 2025 was being nominated for the Community Organisation Award for Disability at the National Diversity Awards. Seeing our name and logo on their website was surreal and, although we did not quite make the final stage, we are eternally grateful for the touching support we received from our young people, their families and fellow professionals throughout the award process.
We are incredibly excited to continue our journey, to see our cohort continue to grow and to welcome new referrals to the Connect Without Limits family.
This group has helped me so much that for the first time I’ve met amazing people and made friends and had the courage to go out and meet with people.
Connect Without Limits C.I.C.
Company Number 13988799
Suite 10, Haven House, Albemarle St, Harwich CO12 3HL
Phone/Text/WhatsApp: 07484 330948
