Mustard Seed Autism Trust is a registered charity that recently used the Cyber PATH Security Awareness Training service. We caught up with their Fundraising and Communications Manager, Sarah Clements, to learn more about the charity and the training event.

Sarah's background is in teaching, and she's a co-founder of Mustard Seed Autism Trust. Twelve years ago, she and Francis Bland, an Occupational Therapist, identified a demand for support and guidance for children with autism and their families, similar to the hands-on support they'd get in school but at home. In addition to supporting autistic children, they recognised the need to empower parents and offer help and guidance for siblings while also educating society that together, we can build a more understanding world.

Twelve years later, the trust is thriving; now, they have seven staff members, nine trustees, and around twenty volunteers who deliver on the goals of the trust daily.

Mustard Seed is a cyber-aware organisation; they have had a well-considered cyber policy in place for some time. However, they were rightly aware that while staff members were adequately briefed and frequently reminded about the cyber policy, trustees and volunteers were not. They also correctly recognised that an organisation is only as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, everybody must receive cyber awareness training. They were also keen that trusted external experts provide the training.

Cyber PATH is part of the police-led, business-focused Cyber Resilience Centre network (CRCs) that the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group runs. The CRCs offer a range of cyber services created explicitly for SMEs and third-sector organisations, including Security Awareness Training. 

Mustard Seed Trust booked a training session and hired Baker Hall in Buryfields so that all of the staff, trustees and volunteers could attend. Moreover, and in true charitable fashion, they invited other much smaller local charities along to benefit from the training. Cyber PATH Supervisor Savva Pistolas delivered the training to an enthused audience on the day.

Speaking about the session, Sarah said, 

"It was a very worthwhile and engaging session; everyone got something from it, with many saying they learned a great deal and appreciated the easy-to-understand way it was delivered.

"The smaller charities were also very appreciative of the invitation and the guidance they received. I'd strongly recommend the Security Awareness Training to all charities and small businesses; we are increasingly moving away from paper to digital, so it's essential to understand the risks and become more cyber-resilient. One thing that stood out for all of us is that cyber resilience is everyone's responsibility.

"We intend to repeat the training periodically as a refresher and to keep updated with the latest cyber threats."

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