Event Description
Stormont Anniversary Event | Exploring Masking, Unmet Need & Systemic Change
This event marks 10 years of A Safe Space to be Me, a decade of responding to increasing unmet need, advocating for systemic change, and delivering neurodivergent-affirming, community-based support across Northern Ireland and beyond.
Over the past ten years, our work has grown significantly in direct response to rising demand and gaps within existing systems. During this time, we have:
- Delivered over 10,000 counselling sessions
- Supported more than 1,000 individuals with ADHD and additional neurotypes
- Developed specialist services aligned with NICE guidelines and best practice
- Expanded community-based support focused on prevention, inclusion, and early intervention
Why Stormont?
Hosting this event at Parliament Buildings is intentional.
As the centre of policy, decision-making, and public accountability in Northern Ireland, Stormont provides an important setting to explore the realities often hidden behind systems, including:
- The impact of masking and invisibility
- The emotional and psychological cost of unmet need
- The growing pressure being absorbed by the community and voluntary sector
- The widening gap between policy, provision, and lived experience
This event brings these conversations into a space where meaningful change can happen.
Event Theme: Masking & The System
At the heart of the event is a critical reality:
Many individuals are not unsupported because they are coping, but because they are required to appear as though they are.
Masking is often misunderstood as choice. In reality, it is frequently a survival response to systems that require people to:
- Appear “well enough” to be accepted
- Communicate in ways that align with system expectations
- Perform stability in order to be believed
This creates a dangerous paradox where those most able to present as “coping” are often the least likely to receive support.
What the Event Will Explore
Through discussion, lived experience, and carefully curated visual elements, the event will explore:
- The hidden realities behind “high-functioning” presentations
- The long-term emotional impact of masking
- How systems shape access to support
- The increasing reliance on community organisations to fill statutory gaps
- The urgent need for prevention-focused and early intervention approaches
Why This Matters
This event is not simply about raising awareness.
It is about recognising that:
- Unmet need has consequences
- Masking delays intervention
- Community organisations are carrying increasing levels of risk
- Without systemic change, pressure on individuals, families, and services will continue to grow
As demand has increased, community organisations have increasingly become the safety net where statutory systems cannot meet need.
This event contributes to a wider conversation about what must come next.
It asks:
- What happens when waiting lists become the only form of support?
- Who holds responsibility when individuals fall through gaps?
- How do we move from crisis response to meaningful prevention?
This is an opportunity not only to reflect on the past decade, but to challenge, influence, and help shape future change across Northern Ireland.
Looking Ahead
Alongside this milestone event, A Safe Space to be Me will continue expanding its work, including the forthcoming launch of a corporate and workplace-focused programme aimed at improving understanding, inclusion, and neurodivergent support across organisational settings.
For more information –
info@asafespacetobeme.co.uk
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