Neurodiversity festival is major event for city

PLYMOUTH is this month hosting a one-day festival to highlight and celebrate people with a range of neurological conditions, which is believed to be a first in the UK.

- ANDY PHILLIPS

The This is Us! Neurodiversity Festival 2024 is the culmination of months of planning by a group headed by local social worker Jane Devlin.

Jane came up with the idea five years ago and gained a slice of funding as part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations, but the Covid pandemic and ensuing delays meant it is being hosted for the first time this month.

The event will take place in Devonport Park on Saturday, September 21, from noon until 7pm, and boasts an entertainment lineup and more than 75 stalls offering everything from hand-made crafts to information on support for those with neurodiverse conditions such as learning disabilities, autism and Tourette’s syndrome.

Jane envisages the festival becoming an annual event, and hopes it will also help to bolster the rights of neurodiverse people through adaptation of services and greater sharing of existing provisions.

An online fundraiser (below) has been set up to help stage the event, while Jane does not think anything of its kind has taken place in the country before.

“I don’t think it has,” she said. “I did a lot of research prior to wanting to put it on and thought ‘it must be happening somewhere’ but I couldn’t see anything and that is part of the rationale for creating it.