It’s been an incredible ADHD Awareness Month; full of amazing feedback from our ADHD Support Groups, the fifth annual ADHDAF Day, and we’re in the final few days of The Big ADHD Fundraiser - finishing on Halloween.
We’re launching our first Cornwall ADHD Group in November; taking our total number of free in-person ADHD Peer Support Group locations across Scotland and England up to SIXTEEN!
Plus, we’ve even more exciting news to share; including October’s stats…
The above displays the impact of our ADHD Support Groups to date; as informed by feeback from 371 Group attendees since launching in March ‘25.
Hi I’m Laura, Founder and CEO of ADHDAF+ Charity, ADHD AF Podcast Host, and Columnist for ADHD
Magazine
I was diagnosed with severe combined type ADHD aged 38 in January 2022; which not only improved my quality of life; it saved my life… and I’ve been on a mission to help others like me ever since.
My Podcast ADHD As Females (ADHD AF) united a ‘Leopard Print Army’ of listeners - whom I was ‘calling’ to assemble for ADHDAF Day in this pic and this ridiculous reel! :)
This loyal listenership of legends led to launching an online community and three UK Tours.
The ADHD AF Podcast Community and Live ADHD Bingo Events both inspired the creation of - and continue to inform the work of this Charity… ADHDAF+ is about us, by us, for us.
ADHDAF Day ‘26
THANK YOU!
Friday 23rd October was the fifth annual ADHDAF Day, on which we turned 'casual Friday' WILD whilst raising ADHD awareness online with Leopard Print and raising funds for the Charity that The Leopard Print Army inspired to help us fund our free ADHD Support Groups.
This year’s ADHDAF Day raised over £400, which covers the cost of 6 monthly ADHDAF+ ADHD Groups or the equivalent of 135 individuals gaining access to desperately needed ADHD support from local peers.
The JustGiving page is still open, so if you’re able; we would be extremely grateful for a donation to THIS PAGE - just £3 covers the cost of an attendee.
#ADHDAFDay saw the Leopard Print Army roaring in the Australian outback, America, Germany, France, and all over the UK… we certainly proved what a social media trend actually is, because ADHD is NOT. ADHD IS REAL.
The photo above is just a few of the many who shared leopard print on their socials for our day… and we even had the PTA of a primary school and a whole team of 11 roaring in their workplace!
To see this solidarity and all of the sentiments spreading across the globe was so powerful. The team and I were particularly moved by the words of Author and ADHD Peri Punks co-host Sarah Glasco; who credits ADHD AF Podcast with giving her the courage to seek an ADHD diagnosis at her lowest ebb. Watch it HERE (with tissues!)
ENORMOUS THANKS to all who took part, donated and shared! The day mattered. Our community matters. And TOGETHER we are making change happen!
You can:
- Watch the ADHDAF Day 2026 highlights HERE
- Donate to the fundraising page HERE.
- Sign up for email reminders for ADHDAF Day 2027 HERE
We are the leopard print army… HEAR US ROAR!
The Big ADHD Fundraiser 2026
In an October so full-on that four weeks feels like a year ago… I began this month jumping out of a plane! Tandem skydiving from 13,000 feet with my lifelong friend Katie… and I still can’t believe we did it!
THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who donated to us Freefalling Felines! We raised a total of £1,901.24, split between ADHDadultUK and ADHDAF+
You can:
- Watch the video of our jump HERE
- Donate to our Skydive pot HERE
In our last blog we heard about Big ADHD Fundraiser Founder Darren and Big’s London to Brighton cycle, plus all of the other LEGENDS who’ve joined in this year’s multi-event fundraiser, just as our Tremendous Trio were about to set off on their Newcastle to Ayr cycle….
All of us at ADHDAF+ are extremely grateful (and admittedly, rather relieved!) to report that Micky, Steph, and Beth completed their 200 miles in 2 days cycle - despite ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS weather conditions!
You can read all about the obstacles these absolute troopers endured and overcame to triumph together to help fund our ADHD adult Support Groups in a piece written by Steph and Beth, entitled: ‘Hanging On for Dear Life: Two Days, Two Countries, One Very Good Truck’… HERE
“If this trip doesn’t highlight how vital support and accommodations are, I don’t know what does!
People with ADHD face everyday barriers constantly. But when people offer small accommodations - which often cost nothing, like offering flexibility, granting grace with timing - combined with kindness and compassion, we can achieve great things.”
We were rooting for our girls every pedal of the way! Our Gateshead ADHD Group co-facilitators, Lorna and Adele, even waved them off at the starting line. Peer support across the board - GO TEAM!
As for the rest of the incredible fundraising legends… it’s the final countdown!
Darren, Claire, Big, and I will be cheering Ruth and Jill on in person for the final few lengths of their swim on October 31st — and we’re cheering on every single person taking part across both charities during these last few days!
You can check out all of the fundraising challenges and donate to support their last push and two ADHD adult charities HERE
(Have you got The Final Countdown in your head now too?)
October Group Glimmers
A glimmer is a micro-joy, and just as I ask guests on ADHD AF Podcast to share a little moment of joy, we always end each ADHDAF+ ADHD Group on glimmers.
The most wonderful news of the month is that our Edinburgh Co-facilitator Vanessa has had a baby boy. Massive Congratulations Vanessa, and welcome to the world Samuel!
Our October Facilitator Meeting was definitely one of my many glimmers this month… plus this incredible feedback from Manchester ADHD Group Facilitator/Big ADHD Catwalker, Gill…
“Attendees glimmers from this sessions included - how much they felt seen and heard by attending the group.
One attendee said that she realised on her way to the group that the two groups she had already attended had done more for her than the last 10 years of accessing multiple kinds of therapy.
Another attendee said that she got home after last month’s group on ADHD tax that she felt less shame about her spending struggles, for the first time ever! And as result has since made changes that have really helped her!
Another attendee came for the first time last month and said that since then she has also changed her spending habits and has implemented a system where she rewards herself for doing tasks and is investing money in meeting her own needs and not seeing it as wasteful for the first ever time. This has all resulted in her spending less frivolously and instead managing her money so that she spends on things that are worthwhile.
Finally, the discussions around peoples support at work were really powerful and interesting. The group were really supportive to people who were experiencing issues at work as well as offering lots of advice about reasonable adjustments that they felt that they needed or that they had previously asked for.
I think a lot of of the group members will go away and feel that they are able to ask to be supported better in work as a result of last night’s group”
There’s too many glimmers to share them all, but here’s a few from each of October’s ADHD Support Groups…
Thank you Lizee for another Brilliant Birmingham ADHD Group!
You can join Lizee at 7-9pm on Tuesday 3rd November at Stryx JQ, 90 Vyse St, Birmingham B18 6JZ (access via secret garden)
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Birmingham Support Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Big ADHD Fundraiser Beth for an amazing Ayr ADHD Group!
Come along to Beth’s next session at 6.30 - 8.30pm on
Tuesday 3rd November at
48 Newmarket Street, KA7 1LR
Sign up for ADHDAF+ Ayr Group reminder emails HERE
ADHD Swindon Facilitator Jen, has turned her passion into a Big ADHD Fundraiser
Thank you so much Jen for donating all profit made from your faux floral handmade hoops to the Big ADHD fundraiser and for all of your amazing work with the Swindon ADHD Group!
Join Jen at 7-9pm on Tuesday 3rd November at Little Grazey, 114 Victoria Rd, Swindon SN1 3BH
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Swindon Group reminder emails HERE
Big thanks to Unshrunk Collective for Sponsoring our Swindon Group! If you would like sponsor a group, our corporate packages are HERE.
Thank you Gemma for another amazing Runcorn session!
You can join Gemma at 6:30-8.30pm on Wednesday 4th November at Murdishaw Community Centre, Barnfield Ave, Murdishaw, WA7 6JW
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Runcorn Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Donnie for another wonderful Cambridge session!
You can join Donnie at 7-9pm on Wednesday 4th November at Unity Centre, (Blossom Room)
Pathfinder Way, CB24 1FD
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Cambridge Group reminder emails HERE
October saw our first Plymouth ADHD Group, congratulations and thank you to new Facilitator Sarah!
Join Sarah 6:30-8:30pm,
Wednesday 4th November at Greenbank Community Centre, 55 Greenbank Road, PL4 8PE
Sign up for Plymouth ADHD Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Tina for another great Chester session!
You can join Tina 6.30-8.30pm, Thursday 5th November at Rainbow Tearooms, 28 Bridge St, Chester CH1 1NQ
Sign up for ADHDAF+ Chester ADHD Group reminder emails HERE
Alongside facilitating our Bristol ADHD Group, Kate is the ADHDAF+ Charity Group Coordinator!
Thank you so much Kate for all of your hard work supporting us all and leading the brilliant Bristol Group!
Join Kate at 7-9pm on Thursday 5th November at The Loft (3rd Floor) Tobacco Factory, BS3 1TF
Sign up for ADHD Bristol Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Ruth aka ‘Geeky Roo’ for another awesome London session!
You can join Ruth at 6:30-8.30pm on Thursday 5th November at Almorah Road Community Centre, 58 Almorah Rd, N1 3EU
Thank you Eve for a brilliant Hemel Hempstead ADHD Group!
Come along to Eve’s next ADHD Hemel Hempstead Group at 7-9pm on Thursday 5th November
at St Johns Hall, Station Road, Hemel Hampstead,
HP1 1JY
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Hemel Hempstead Support Group reminder emails HERE
Congratulations and thank you to new Co-facilitators Lorna and Adelle on their first Gateshead ADHD Group!
Join them at 6:30 - 8:30pm
Monday 9th November
(Usually 1st Mon of every Month) at The Community Hub (Upstairs, Green Mall) Metrocentre, St Michaels Way, Tyne & Wear, NE11 9YG
Sign up for ADHDAF+ Gateshead ADHD Support Group reminder emails HERE
Enormous thanks to Big ADHD Catwalker Gill for another amazing ADHD Manchester Group this month
Join Gill and Toni at the next session: 7-9pm, Wednesday 11th Novemer at Friends’ Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Manchester Support Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Fiona for hosting another brilliant session at your book shop in Amble, Northumberland!
Join Fiona 6:30-8:30pm
Wednesday 11th November at Bridge Street Books, 4a Bridge Street, Amble, Northumberland, NE65 0DR
Sign up for Amble ADHD Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you Paula for a brilliant Blackpool ADHD Group!
Come along to Paula’s next ADHD Blackpool Group at 7-9pm on Thursday 12th November at Aunty Social, 28 Topping St, Blackpool FY1 3AQ
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Blackpool Support Group reminder emails HERE
Thank you to Co-facilitators Maz and Vanessa for an amazing Edinburgh ADHD Group!
Join them for the next ADHD Edinburgh Group at 7-9pm on Thursday 12th November at Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, EH1 2JL
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Edinburgh Support Group reminder emails HERE
As introduced in the last blog, it’s finally time for new facilitator Sophie to launch our first Cornwall ADHD Support Group in Truro!
Join Sophie at 6:30-8:30pm on Wednesday 11th November at All Saints Truro Lifehouse, Highertown,
TR1 3LD
Sign up for ADHDAF+ ADHD Truro Support Group reminder emails HERE
Let’s hear it for all of these legends! Giving flowers to everyone volunteering to be a local leader - providing invaluable peer support and building ADHD community connection.
November ADHD Groups
You’re invited to your local ADHDAF+ ADHD Peer Support Group in November in which we discuss ADHD comorbidities - which we prefer to call ‘Side Dishes.’
You don’t need to be on time or have an ADHD Diagnosis - SELF DIAGNOSIS IS VALID.
You just need to be over 18 and have or think you might have ADHD - No sign-up, just turn up and stay as long as you like!
November serves
ADHD ‘Side Dishes’
At its core, Neurodiversity means that all brains are different.
But beyond that, the neurodivergent community itself is incredibly diverse.
No two people with ADHD are exactly the same.
We are neurodiverse within the neurodivergent community!
FLASHBACK: Neurodivergent Neurodiversity is explored in this VERY OLD mini ADHD AF episode with Dr James Brown.
You can listen HERE
Accompanying ADHD and its accompaniments… Intersectionality shows us how our overlapping social identities; such as race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status create unique experiences that profoundly shape our ADHD discovery, diagnosis, treatment, and daily life.
We each experience ADHD differently due to our own individual combination of identities.
I discuss this in the new episode of ADHD AF…
Alongside ADHD Awareness Month, October is also Black History Month, Menopause Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Also including Dyspraxia Awareness Week, Coming Out Day and International Lesbian Day.
I was joined by senior policy advisor, Neurodiversity advocate, TedX Speaker, and ADHDAF+ Charity Trustee, Abigail Agyei Jones MBE on ADHD AF this month to unpick the vital concept of intersectionality.
We dive into how systemic gatekeeping, late diagnoses, hormonal shifts, and racial biases disproportionately impact Black neurodivergent women, and how we build radical community care in response.
You can listen to the ‘Overlapping October’ on ADHD AF all podcast platforms HERE or watch the video on Spotify HERE
BIG NEWS
From one decorated ADHDAF+ Trustee to another…
Welcoming the wonderful
Lou O’Connell MBE
to ADHDAF+’s
Board of Trustees!
We know that Lou’s experience and skills will be an absolute asset to our charity.
Since then, I’ve supported ADHDAF+ behind the scenes with safeguarding and mental health advice, guidance, and training its facilitators. I’ve also had the privilege of speaking at events and connecting with a community where I’ve always felt at home….
I’ve seen first-hand the difference ADHDAF+ makes in creating safe, supportive spaces where people feel understood, valued and able to be themselves, while recognising both the strengths and challenges of ADHD
Becoming a Trustee is an opportunity to give something back to a charity that has already given so much to me…
I bring lived experience of late-diagnosed ADHD, a Veteran with over 30 years of service in the British Army, and professional expertise as a Registered Mental Health Nurse, EMCC-accredited coach and more.
My experience spans wellbeing, mental health, safeguarding, leadership and training.
Volunteering with charities has been a lifelong commitment, and I’m passionate about ensuring that both the people they support and the volunteers who make that support possible feel safe, valued and well supported.
I’m incredibly proud to be joining the board and look forward to helping ADHDAF+ continue its vital work, so that more ADHD women and people of marginalised genders feel understood, find their community and know they are not alone.’
-Lou O’Connell MBE, ADHDAF+ Charity Trustee
…once again, it’s a teary eyed standing ovation from me!
THANK YOU SO MUCH LOU!
All of us at ADHDAF+ are grateful and extremely lucky to have you join our Board!
She’s written an amazing
ADHD book too - pictured here signing it at our first Easy Target Event … I particularly like the bit about RSD! ;)
And if that wasn’t exciting enough we have even more news to come, which I’ll share after November’s free in-person ADHD Peer Support Groups in 16 locations.
“What’s the format of ADHDAF+ Groups?
Who can attend?
How do we choose locations?
What does marginalised genders mean?
AND... What’s with all the leopard print?!
ALL answered on our FAQ page”
Find out all of the above and more HERE
Thank you so much for reading and for all of your support!
Please support the final few days of The Big ADHD Fundraiser and keep your fingers crossed for us for The European Diversity Awards!
Please know that if you are struggling
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Please reach out for help via our
list of resources HERE.
Laura x
P.S. You can’t spell Twinks without win! :)
