About Us

What we do.

Potential Kids offers social, sporting and educational activity sessions to neurodivergent children, young people and families. We’ve been doing this since 2018 – providing an opportunity for young people to reduce their social isolation, increase their self-esteem and build their self-confidence.

All sessions are kept small enough in numbers to reduce social anxieties and fears. The sessions are held in a safe and understanding environment, where our young people can be understood, accepted and have the opportunity to meet others like themselves.

We provide our young people with the time and space to enable them to learn and develop their social and communication skills, through play with others.

Most who attend will have had limited opportunities to socialise, learn and have fun, as they may have been unable to join other mainstream clubs.

These sessions also give parents the opportunity to meet, relax, and have some downtime.

The sessions are run by experienced, qualified DBS, safeguarded professionals, therapists, coaches and amazing volunteers.

Our impact

The difference we make at Potential Kids is wide reaching – and deliberately so.

FOR NEURODIVERGENT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE (Autism, ADHD and related conditions)
- We increase confidence and self-esteem for children and young people by providing opportunities to learn new skills and socialise in a fun, relaxed and safe environment.
- We reduce vulnerability and improve mental well-being by providing safe spaces where children and young people can socialise.
- We reduce isolation by providing activities where children and young people can make friends and connect with others who understand them.
- We provide accessible educational opportunities and life skills which increases life choices and potential for independence/employment in the future.
FOR PARENTS AND CARERS
- We reduce isolation by providing opportunities for parents and carers to meet informally and offer support to each other.
- We increase confidence by empowering parents and carers to advocate effectively for their children.
- We help support wellbeing, with events such as mindfulness/meditation. Parents/Carers fulfil their role more effectively when looking after their own needs too.
FOR SIBLINGS
- We reduce isolation by providing siblings with opportunities to socialise with other siblings who understand.
- We increase confidence by helping siblings to recognise how important they are in their family.
FOR COMMUNITIES
- We provide safe, inclusive opportunities for neurodivergent young people (Autism, ADHD and related differences) to access social activities not easily accessible to them elsewhere.
- We strengthen services others provide through close collaborations with diverse agencies.

Our founder:

Potential Kids was founded by Angela Gaughan, a mum to an autistic son who realised that there was a great need for projects like this. She knows how hard it is to access activities for her son and wanted to make a difference by providing local support which encourages and enables our young people to learn, grow and achieve.

She is very proud to have some amazing volunteers, professionals and local organisations who are supporting her!

Locations

Based from The Galleria in Hatfield we have 3 key areas – The Hub, The Zone and Potential to Grow.

We also run sessions in a variety of locations in and around Hatfield. If you book on one of these, you’ll be given full instructions of how to get to them.