A huge, heartfelt thank you from all of us at Rare Bird Communication Community Interest Company - and the spellers and families that we serve - to Iron Mountain for their incredibly generous donation! 

Thanks to this transformative support, we have achieved two major milestones:

• A new home: We are opening a town centre hub specifically created for the non-speaking, minimally speaking and unreliably speaking community in Cumbria to visit to learn spelling as communication - a space that our community can truly call their own.

• Direct 12 month support: We are able to sponsor 4 local non speakers for a full year as they develop robust, reliable communication by coaching the motor skills needed to point to letters on a letterboard. 

Why this investment matters:

Current statistics show that 25-30% of autistic individuals do not develop functional speech or remain minimally speaking. Yet, this population remains among the most underserved, understudied and underrepresented in the autism community. Having a business like Iron Mountain actively invest in our mission is a huge step in the right direction. 

As a community interest company, Rarebird Communication relies on grants and donations to deliver true communication equity - ensuring financial constraints never stand as a barrier for the local individuals and families that we serve. 

Iron Mountain - you are changing lives and building a more inclusive future where non-speaking individuals gain the access, agency and autonomy that they deserve 💫

A huge thank you to Amentum for their generous donation and, just as importantly their support of Rare Bird Communication Community Interest Company. Without them, we wouldn't of achieved our mission of creating communication equity for non speakers across Cumbria.

Amentum - your generosity has helped us turn our vision into something tangible - creating greater access to communication, challenging assumptions, presuming competence and making sure that non speakers have the opportunity to be heard, understood and included.

We are especially grateful for your support as we have worked towards opening our very own town centre hub: a welcoming space where non speaking people and their families can connect, learn, access communication support and build a community where communication differences are understood rather than underestimated.

For us, this isn't simply about providing equipment or a physical space. It's about changing expectations, opening doors and creating opportunities for people whose voices have too often been overlooked. 

Thank you Amentum for believing in what we are trying to achieve and for helping RareBird move one step closer to making communication equity a reality for Cumbria.

We couldn't do this without spporters who are willing to stand alongside us and make change happen 🩶