AUTISM ACCEPTANCE WEEK 27TH MARCH - 2ND APRIL 2023
Telford Centre are celebrating Autism Acceptance Week with extended Quiet Hours added to their autism friendly shopping services.
The centre already has an established Quiet Hour every Saturday morning, 9am – 10am and a new additional Quiet Hour will now also take place every Tuesday 4pm – 5pm.
Quiet Hours provide a calmer time to shop for customers with additional needs. Music and other noise and light levels on the mall and in stores are reduced, where possible, to provide a quieter environment in the centre.
A Quiet Hour is something that has been running at the centre for some time now and has been well received. The extension of this with the new additional slot comes following customer feedback .
Katie Broome, Marketing Manager at Telford Centre Said: ‘We work closely with Telford & Wrekin Autism Hub and after reviewing feedback, it was clear that customers would also benefit from a Quiet Hour that fitted with the after school run. This new Tuesday slot will provide opportunity during the week for parents to shop at a quiet time with children and young people who are affected by high sensory overload and we hope this will be as beneficial to customers as the Saturday sessions have been.’
Quiet Hours are just part of the Autism Friendly shopping experience provided at Telford Centre. Their Autism Champions are members of staff that are trained specifically to support customers with autism and are also on hand to help.
Autism Acceptance Week (27th March - 2nd April) is lead by the National Autistic Society to raise awareness and to help create a society that works for autistic people. In support of this, the Telford Autism Hub team will be at Telford Centre on Wednesday 29th March to advise and talk to customers about autism and to provide support and sign posting to organisations that can help.
The Entertainer store at Telford Centre will also be supporting Autism Acceptance Week with 10% of all profits on sales of Ready Steady Dough donated to the National Autistic Society. And the first hour of opening every day at The Entertainer is a Quiet Hour with store music turned off along with demos.
