The very short answer to that question is that we are here to make sure that parents of children with ADHD don’t feel alone.

S.P.A.C.E. is a parent support group for people who have children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The support parents need didn’t exist, so we created it and after all this time, we’re still here. We provide a place where parents and carers can meet others facing similar challenges. We provide access to unbiased information and signpost to local services. Unlike most organisations there are no KPIs set for our charity. Our goal is to make sure that local parents of children with ADHD know that we exist. That’s it. No financial targets. No sponsorship deals. No social media targets. Nobody gets a Porsche if meeting attendance goes up. So what’s the point?

Families of children with ADHD are failed on a regular basis. Families are pushed to breaking point. Parents don’t understand their own children or know why nothing they do seems to work. If you’ve ever felt like that and think that your family is the only one that “doesn’t work” then finding other parents who share those challenges and understand can be genuinely life changing and that’s the point.

Once you understand that your child’s brain works differently you can parent the child you have, not the child that the mainstream parenting books think you should have. Once you know what you’re dealing with, you can adapt. We’re the people who signpost to services you’ve never heard of. We’re the people who’ve been where you are. We’re your tribe if you want us.

One theme that comes across on a regular basis is that children with ADHD are impacted by the actions and attitudes of others, particularly their teachers and other adults they encounter. Stereotypes, misinformation and myths continue to follow the condition. The myth that ADHD is something that only affects little boys who eventually grow out of it continues to affect the diagnosis and treatment of women, girls and any boys that don’t make a nuisance of themselves. Mainstream media has a part to play in these stereotypes but rage bait content generates views and unfortunately views make them money, despite the cost to those in the ADHD community.

At our core we are a parent support group, but over the years we’ve also played our part in raising ADHD awareness. Our website includes links to useful information about ADHD and over the years we’ve ran online sessions and delivered in person training sessions about ADHD to local organisations. We attended the launch of the All Party Parliamentary Group for ADHD at Westminster and have contributed to NHS working groups in Stockport.

I joined S.P.A.C.E. as a parent whose child had a new diagnosis of a complicated sounding condition that I’d never heard of. Over 20 years later, I’m here making sure that our tiny charity is there for other parents and carers. I put myself in rooms on their behalf. I share information and research that they may not have seen. I remind them that will be light at the end of the tunnel and I give them a platform to share their stories and experiences if they want it.

We’re the tribe that parents of ADHD children might need. We just need them to know we’re here. We never want to think that they’re alone, because we know how that feels and that’s the point.