Social Programmes

• Our events are for Neurodivergents from all backgrounds, whether diagnosed, self-identifying or questioning.
• Neuro-curious (questioning whether you might be Neurodivergent) and self-diagnosed/self-identifying individuals are absolutely welcome at our events.
• Our events are for adults only (18+). Even if accompanied by a parent or guardian, we cannot allow under 18s to attend. This policy is in place to ensure the safeguarding, safety and well-being of everyone involved, including yours.

• Our events are not for anyone seeking unpaid emotional labour from our community.
• Our events are not a place for you to carry out research, arrange consultations, solicit feedback or gather information for your own agenda.
• Our events are not for anyone being paid to attend on behalf of an organisation. 
• If you have a feeling that this might be you or you are unsure, please send us an email at info@ndft.org.uk and we’ll do our best to assist you appropriately.
• The only non-Neurodivergent people welcome at this event are support-people/caregivers and potentially venue staff.
• Our events are not for under 18s. Even if accompanied by a parent or guardian, we cannot allow under 18s to attend. This policy is in place to ensure the safeguarding, safety and well-being of everyone involved, including yours.

• Our monthly meetup is usually held once a month, on a Monday evening, from 7pm to 9pm.
• Our monthly coffee morning is usually held once a month, on a Friday morning, from 10am to 12pm.

We alternate and rotate venues each month across Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate to ensure local accessibility across Thanet.

As of March 2025, we are alternating between the following venues:

• Ramsgate: Albion House.
• Broadstairs: The Gap Project – Queen Road Baptist Church
• Margate: CAMP – Clifftonville.

Please check each event’s details for the exact venue and location of that event.

Our meetups are designed to provide multiple ways to engage, with activities available for those who enjoy them and find them helpful, while also ensuring space for those who prefer to sit and chat.

Our Coffee Mornings are a space where you bring what works for you—whether that’s life admin (to use the event to body-double with someone), bring your own work-in-progress craft project, a game, or just yourself. Unlike our Meetups—which offer planned activities alongside open conversation—Coffee Mornings are entirely shaped by what attendees choose to bring and do, creating a shared space for connection without set activities.

Whether at our meetups or at our coffee mornings, participation in any activity, socialising, or conversation is always optional, and no one is expected to take part in any of the activities available/happening.

• Some like to have an activity to engage with while socialising, others prefer to just have a cuppa and chat, while some might just come to be around others without engaging. All options are completely valid and accepted.
• Just because you attended and played a game one time doesn’t mean you have to do that again the next time you attend.
• Just because you start the event with doing crafts doesn’t mean you have to do crafts all evening.
• We encourage attendees to engage with the space and others in ways that makes most sense to them, is most enjoyable, and most aligned with what they need each time.
• You are the expert of you. You do what works for you.

Activities Available At Meetups:

Arts & Crafts

Arts & Crafts table: drawing, collage and more… Your chill space to engage (or not) with undirected art activities, with or without chatting with others.

Games

Players’ Area: Classic games & board games. Your higher energy space is full of dopamine hits!

Our events are facilitated by our amazing 100% Neurodivergent facilitator team, composed of Suzy (Lead Facilitator), Sophie (Co-Facilitator) and Daniel (Co-Facilitator).

Our facilitator team! From left to right, Sophie, Suzy and Daniel.

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When you arrive at the event and sign-in, a facilitator will offer you to chose between 3 stickers to indicate your social battery level to other attendees.

We operate these tags like a traffic light system.

What each colour means:

Green = “Full battery!” This indicates to other attendees that you have energy and are happy for people to approach you, engage with you and engage back with them.

Yellow = “Take it easy with me.” This indicates that you want to interact with others, but you need people to be mindful that you are not at your highest level of energy, and to take it easy with you.

Red = “Please don’t talk to me unless I talk to you first.” This indicated that you want to be around people, but your energy is low, and you don’t want people to engage with you unless you engage with them first.

The red tags will not apply to facilitators for safety reasons.

This means that even if you wear a red sticker, our facilitators are allowed to talk to you unprompted. This is to ensure your safety, especially in the case of an emergency.

Meetups–Doors open at 7pm.
Coffee Mornings–Doors open at 10am.

Please do not arrive early as we usually won’t be able to let you in earlier then the start time of the event.

A member of the NDFT team will be at the door and ask for your name to tick you off our attendees’ list.

We will offer you to write your name and pronouns on a sticky label (if you wish to), to wear during the evening, for others to know. At the same time, we will offer you to chose between 3 stickers to indicate your social battery level to other attendees. See “What to expect: Social Battery Tags” section above.

If you need any support at any time, talk to one of our facilitators who will be able to talk with you one-to-one, or introduce you to other people.

Our team is here to support you with whatever is going on for you during the event.

About ten minutes before the event finishes, facilitators will let you know that we’ll be closing soon and invite you to fill out a feedback form.

Our feedback forms are anonymous to ensure you feel safe to share your genuine feedback with us.

It is crucial for us to get your genuine feedback at the end of each events for several reasons: first it helps us make sure that we learn from each event and implement your feedback for the next one.

This process helps us continue to make our events better so that they constantly align with your needs and wants. Additionally, they provide crucial information that supports all our funding activities.

Your feedback and testimonials are key and instrumental for us to secure on-going funding to keep our activities running and free of charge.

Thanks in advance for helping us continue these events by taking 5 minutes to share your thoughts 😊

Meetups–By 9 pm we’ll ask all attendees to leave the venue.
Coffee Mornings–By 11:45 am we’ll ask all attendees to leave the venue.

Our team will start tidying up materials and cleaning up the venue.

Some venues we host at have the capacity to provide refreshments that you can directly purchase from the venue, some other don’t. Please check each event’s details to know about that.

Regardless of the venue able to offer refreshments, we try to always provide free teas and coffees. No matter what, tap water in jugs and cups will always be provided.

In the event we cannot provide refreshment at a specific event, we will do our best to inform attendees as early as possible, but it might not always be possible (e.g. in the case of last minute unforeseen events on the day that would prevent us to provide refreshments).

We expect all participants of our events to read, agree and comply with our code of conduct, therefore ensuring the safety of everyone involved as well as their own. Our welcome pack also includes frequently asked questions and our answers to them.

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We recommend booking in advance. We limit the number of tickets available to book for safeguarding reasons. Therefore, once maximum capacity is reached, we won’t be able to let anyone else in. You don’t have to book a ticket to come, but it’s the only way to absolutely guarantee your place for the event.

Each of our events’ description will include transport details including which bus services and bus stops are nearest to the venue, as well as car parking information.

We also always share a visual story about the venue for each event. Our visual story is a handy document that shows you what to expect about the venue, how it looks and and where things are. Read it before you come, we hope it helps you enjoy our event even more!

Q: I don’t have an official diagnosis/I’m still questioning whether I might be Neurodivergent…

A: You don’t need a diagnosis to be here. NDFT was created because we know what it’s like to navigate self-discovery, question our identity, and feel unsure if we “deserve” space. Whether you’re self-identifying or just exploring, you are welcome and belong here, and you are not taking anyone’s space—you are taking your space.

Q: Will there be toilets available at the event?

A: We will always ensure there are toilets available; however, please check each event’s details to confirm.

If the event details does not specify anything about toilets, this means that there are toilets and accessible toilets available.

Q: Will there be refreshments available at the event?

A: We try to always provide free teas and coffees. No matter what, tap water in jugs and cups will always be provided. In the event we cannot provide refreshment at a specific event, we will do our best to inform attendees as early as possible, but it might not always be possible (e.g. in the case of last minute unforeseen events on the day that would prevent us to provide refreshments).

Q: Can I come with my child/children?

A: Our events are for adults only. Right now, we can’t accommodate children, but we’re working on ways to support Neurodivergent parents who need childcare to attend.

Q: I’m over 60 and I’m worried I’m too old to participate in the events…

A: People attending our events are of ALL ages and everyone always enjoys themselves regardless of their age!

Q: Can I come to the events even if I use AAC?

A: 100% YES

Q: I really want to come to one of your meetups, but I’m shy/anxious/have social anxiety…

A: We’ll never force you to talk, interact or do anything at our events. Feel free to come just to be around others and engage as and when you feel comfortable to. You can also bring along a friend or family member to help support you (they don’t have to be Neurodivergent to attend to support you).

Q: Are the events truly 100% Neurodivergent, or are there Non-Neurodivergent individuals who attend too?

A: Our events are only for Neurodivergent people, however there may be some non-Neurodivergent individuals at our events. This might include:

• People supporting Neurodivergent attendees, i.e. a parent, friend, caregiver or PA (personal assistant) whose presence would enable a Neurodivergent individual to attend and participate.
• A member of staff of the venue we are hosting at (we do not have control over the staff hiring of the venues we use).

Q: Can I bring someone with me to support me attending?

A: Whether it’s a parent, friend, caregiver or PA (personal assistant) whose presence would enable you to attend and participate, you can come along with a person to support you and they don’t have to book an extra ticket. Simply use the option available when booking to add a support person to your booking.

Q: I am a support worker, PA (personal assistant), parent, carer, caregiver, friend of a Neurodivergent adult who I would like to support attend this event, can I book on their behalf and come with them? Do you I need to also be Neurodivergent?

A: As a support person you can book on behalf of the Neurodivergent adult attending, you can attend with them to support them, and you do not need to be Neurodivergent yourself to attend.

How to book when booking on behalf of someone else:

Please note that if you book on behalf of the attendee, please make the booking in their name and add your name and contact details to the booking where the option is provided to do so. Do not book a separate ticket for you.