Understanding Autism North West are a small charity based in Lancashire. They provide a specialist mental health counselling service to the autistic community. They are not a commissioned service, ie they don't receive any funding from the Local Authorities or the NHS, and rely solely on fundraising and donations to support the service. Autistic people are much more likely to suffer mental health difficulties than the rest of the population, but mainstream mental health services lack the knowledge, experience and expertise to effectively help autistic people. This is why a service like this is so vital.