You may well have read in the last weekend's press of the campaigning efforts of Polly Tommey on behalf of children with autism and their families. If not, you can catch up with it in Sunday's Independent: Brown to Meet Autism Campaigner: "PM promises mother who launched 'Dear Gordon' billboard blitz that sufferers and carers will get more help."
It's a great, great story. And the website of Polly Tommey's The Autism Trust, very cleverly builds on the publicity with a simple Petition: "Do you want to see more support for individuals with autism and their families? Yes/No?" - and collects your email address for their database in the process.
But there's another aspect to it, to be found further into the website, that really fascinates me even more than the campaigning.
We at Paces have from the beginning had a vision of a conductive education resource at the heart of and embedded within a local community centre. The recent granting of a 40 year lease has given impetus, despite the recession, to plans to take forward the capital development of the site and perhaps more. What distinguishes the Paces Campus' Vision is our commitment from the very start to engaging with the local community. The Autism Trust says that its Aim is "a nationwide network of innovative, high quality environments: Centres of Excellence in Autism." Take a moment to check out their Vision for these centres of excellence.
Inspirational. But it takes strategic vision, courage and, in no small measure, the determination to get to the end of the journey despite the odds.