Supporting members affected by autism

Around 700,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. Together with their families, this means autism is a part of daily lives of 2.8 million people. 

With 15 million members in the UK it is highly likely that some of these people have a banking relationship with us. Autism is a spectrum condition which affects people in many different ways, but some of the more common traits which people on the autism spectrum may display include:

The Society is currently piloting autism friendly hours in its Worcester and Redditch branches. At these times the branches will not be as busy, meaning there is less need to queue, something that can be an issue for someone on the autism spectrum.

Room will be made available so that if a customer or their child does find the experience overwhelming, they can conduct their banking needs away from the banking hall. We will also be reducing the noise in branches as much as possible to help those who suffer from over stimulation.

We recognise these hours may not always be suitable for autistic customers and their family, so we also aim to provide information for these customers on how each branch looks and what to expect when you visit. For those branches that are particularly busy, we will also let people know when another branch is close by that may be a bit quieter.

More importantly, we will be training our staff about autism and how they can support autistic customers and their families. If successful we will look to roll the pilot out across our branch network.