Rebecca Ibbotson is the passionate founder of The Glowsticks Project – a newly established charity dedicated to supporting children and young people living with autism and ADHD.
A person with both Autism and ADHD herself, Rebecca received her diagnosis later in life, despite struggling with various mental health problems from a young age. She is also a devoted carer to her son, Olliver, who is autistic, and her partner, who has ADHD.
This is her story of why she founded The Glowsticks Project.
In 2021, Rebecca made the very difficult decision to withdraw Olliver from school just before he was due to go into Year One. It wasn’t a choice she took lightly, but she felt she had no other option. From a very young age, Olliver had shown signs of developmental delay—he was slow to speak, and walk, and was referred for speech and language therapy. But the problems for Olliver really began when he started school. He began to present unusual and upsetting behaviour, such as banging his head against the wall, self-harming, and covering his ears in distress.
Rebecca recalls, “I didn’t understand what was going on, why he was behaving in that way. He kept telling me he was always on his own, that no one wanted to play with him, but the school insisted he was popular and had plenty of friends. They just told me I needed to be more resilient, but Olliver was coming home from school and being really destructive.
“I reached a point where I knew I couldn’t keep putting Olliver through all of this so I took him out of school. Then one day I typed all his symptoms into a google search and it came back with autism. I had no support from school as he’d left by then, so I went to my GP, but it felt like a constant uphill battle to get any answers. Nobody could see what I could see. There was a real lack of support.”
Eventually, after three long years Olliver received a diagnosis of autism and was referred to a multi-agency pathway. Rebecca was handed a 27-page document of his diagnosis and leaflets about obtaining an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which he didn’t qualify for because he was home educated.
Olliver didn’t meet the criteria for a ’children with a disability social worker’ and although there are some fantastic services out there Rebecca explains how they didn’t cater for a child with Olliver’s needs. And she felt there was a real lack of understanding and empathy with some providers.
Rebecca starts on her own diagnosis journey
Rebecca decided to learn everything she could about autism so that she could fully support her son. It was when doing this that she came across an article about autism in girls which made her realise she had many autistic traits herself which prompted the start of her diagnosis journey. “I’ve struggled with mental health since being very young, but after getting a diagnosis of autism and then ADHD it was like a light bulb went on,” she explains. “I’ve become much more forgiving of myself and it’s given me confidence. I feel reborn. For years, I had felt like a lost cause. I felt like a broken human.”
Home educating Olliver was taking its toll on Rebecca. Despite her exhaustion, she began organising events for home-educated children with special educational needs. She ran art therapy sessions and trips out, meeting families facing similar challenges. During this time, Rebecca also studied for a level 2 teaching assistant qualification where she met her friend Tracy who encouraged her to take what she was doing a step further and turn it into a charity - The Glowsticks Project.
The Glowsticks Project starts to take shape
She was put in touch with MVDA where she worked with John Atkinson, Community Action and Development Officer, and registered The Glowsticks Project as a charity. Rebecca has nothing but praise for John; “Without John we would not be where we are now. He has been my backbone. I can’t put into words what he has done for us as an organisation.”
The Glowsticks Project was never going to do more than run events and work with young people up to the age of 18, with a small set up alongside side it selling snacks and drinks. But all that changed when three volunteers offered to help run a café, and The Glowsticks Project evolved into something much larger than Rebecca had originally planned.
The café, which opened this month at Unit 13 in Dundas Shopping Centre, will not only serve as a base for The Glowsticks Project’s activities and events but also offer a space for young people with autism or ADHD to gain work experience. With the café open to the public, volunteers aged 16 and older will be given the chance to work in a supportive, real-world environment. They must have been identified as having needs related to autism or ADHD and must have been referred onwards by a GP. This is a welfare issue from Rebecca’s perspective as she believes people should have the opportunity to know who they are, and not struggle like her and her son, not knowing what was wrong.
Rebecca’s vision for The Glowsticks Project is about giving young people the opportunity to understand and embrace who they are—without the struggles she and Olliver faced. "I believe no one should have to feel lost or like they don’t belong," she says. "Everyone deserves to shine, even when they feel broken."
The charity, which serves young people from ages 2 to 25, is also partnering with JCP Community Farm to provide work placements and volunteer opportunities for young people to experience a busy work environment with the support they need. Recently, Rebecca was asked to offer outreach support to Prior Pursglove College, in Guisborough where she’s now working with students and staff to increase awareness and create support networks. She’s about to start doing the same with Stockton Sixth Form.
Rebecca’s commitment doesn’t stop there. The Glowsticks Project is also running forest school programs in partnership with Woods and Waves CIC, providing outdoor learning experiences for juniors and teens.
Through all of this, Rebecca runs the charity with the steadfast support of her friend Tracy. “People don’t see what happens behind the scenes,” says Rebecca. “Tracy has been there for me every step of the way. I couldn’t have gotten this far without her.”
Rebecca’s advice to other parents and caregivers? "Never give up. Don’t let anyone tell you what’s best for your child. If you aren’t getting the support you need, go out and do it yourself.”
Rebecca’s ultimate goal has always been to give Olliver—and other children like him—a place where they can find the support, understanding, and opportunities they need to thrive. The name Glowsticks was inspired by the idea that, like a glowstick, even when you feel broken, you can still shine through.
Rebecca’s tireless dedication to her mission has earned her a nomination for the Julie Donaldson Volunteer Award at the upcoming Inspiring Women Awards. We wish her the best of luck!
To find out more about The Glowsticks Project you can find them on Facebook or the café and hub at Unit 13 in Dundas Shopping Centre, Middlesbrough
And listen to Rebecca’s interview on the BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0kxj658
