Raw Acts - Autism and Neurodiverse Edition

We are back with an afternoon of eight creative performances! This edition of Raw Acts we are raising money for Autism Initiatives! We are back! This is a very special Raw Acts as we witness amazing eight acts from the Autistic and Neurodiverse community all the while raising money for Autism Initiatives! We want to focus on this as myself and Alice, my wonderful Assistant Producer are neurodivergent as are many other creatives. We wanted to make this a focus now in times when the media is pushing a more negative angle on these subjects in regards to “over diagnosis”, in Scotland seeing the Autism and Neurodivergence bill being dropped and seeing support services being cut. We want to celebrate who we are whilst raising money for Autism Initiatives which provides specialist, person-centred support, education, and residential services for autistic children, young people, and adults. Part of their services are shops they run and we have the Highland One Stop Shop on Friars Street. This is an incredible hub that is for autistic people aged 16+ that provides free interest groups and activities, scheduled drop-in times, and 1-1 appointments for advice and support on a range of issues. We are focusing on this hub as I (Betsy) have been attending there since I was diagnosed with Autism and have had a vast amount of incredible support to help me get to where I am today. As mentioned before I am sure we are all aware of the negative and real cuts that have happened. We want to particularly highlight the cuts that happened in June 2026 due to the charity not receiving statutory funding which led to voluntary redundancy in the Highland One stop Shop and the Number 6 Shop in Edinburgh. This was a tough decision and was taken to help reduce costs for the service as a whole. So we hope you can come along riase money and experince some amzing talent! Included in your ticket is our networking session featuring a local DJ with a potential raffle to take place! This shall take place 4.30-6.30pm with venue to be confirmed ASAP!