Social Groups at The Social Space
Sometimes Connection Is Easier When There’s Already Something to Connect About
For some children and teenagers, the social world can feel busy, unpredictable and exhausting. School playgrounds, large groups and unstructured social situations can involve a lot to process at once — who to talk to, what to say, when to join in and what everyone else expects.
Our Social Groups offer another starting point. Small, structured groups bring people together around something they already enjoy. Gaming. LEGO. Art. Movement. Instead of making socialising the activity, the shared interest gives participants something to do alongside one another — and connection has room to develop from there.
Sometimes the easiest place to begin is simply: “We both like this.”
A Different Starting Point
Taking Some of the Pressure Out of Connecting
Traditional social situations often expect a young person to work out what to talk about before a connection has even begun. Shared interests provide common ground from the start. When everyone has chosen to be there because they enjoy the activity, there is already something to talk about, something to work on, something to show someone, something to laugh about — or simply something to do while being alongside other people.
The aim is not to manufacture friendship. It is to create the conditions where interaction can feel more natural, predictable and comfortable.
Who They’re For
For Young People Who Prefer Connection With a Little More Structure
These groups may appeal to young people who:
Find large or unpredictable social environments overwhelming
Feel more comfortable in smaller groups
Find unstructured social situations difficult
Enjoy connecting through activities rather than conversation alone
Have strong or specific interests
Want to meet people who enjoy similar things
Find school-based peer connection challenging
Prefer knowing what they are coming to do
Enjoy being around others without pressure to constantly talk
May be autistic, ADHD or otherwise neurodivergent
A diagnosis isn’t required, and Social Groups aren’t only for neurodivergent young people — they’re for anyone who connects more comfortably around a shared interest.
The Social Group Difference
The Activity Isn’t a Reward for Socialising. It’s the Reason We’re Together.
Our Social Groups are different from our structured clinical Group Programs. Programs such as PEERS®, Secret Agent Society®, Cool Kids and the DBT Skills Program have specific therapeutic or skills-based curricula. Social Groups have a different purpose.
The shared activity comes first. Facilitators create a supportive, structured environment and can help participants navigate interactions when needed, but the group is not designed around constantly teaching or correcting social behaviour.
Someone can participate because they genuinely enjoy gaming, building, creating or moving — not because they have to prove they are becoming more social.
Explore Social Groups
Find Your Kind of Space
Fridays 4:00 – 5:30pm
Gaming Club
Shared interests can create powerful opportunities for connection. Gaming Club provides an interest-based social environment where children and teenagers can connect with others through gaming, technology and collaborative activities. The emphasis is on belonging, shared participation and positive social experiences in a supportive environment.
Explore Gaming Club
Expressions of Interest
Clubs We’d Love to Run
Not everyone connects through gaming. We would also love to create small groups around other shared interests when enough people are looking for the same thing. We’re currently inviting Expressions of Interest for LEGO Club, Art Club and Mental Fitness.
Tell Us What You’re Interested InHow It Works
We Build the Group Around the People Who Are Interested
- 01
Register Your Interest
Tell us which group your child or teenager may be interested in.
- 02
We Look at Interest & Group Fit
We consider factors such as age, interests and whether we have enough participants for a workable group.
- 03
We Contact Families
When there is enough interest to explore forming a group, our team contacts families with further information.
- 04
The Group Is Confirmed
Dates and practical details are only confirmed once a viable group can be formed.
Looking for a Structured Skills-Based Program?
The Social Space Also Offers Group Programs
The Social Space also offers structured Group Programs including social, emotional and parent programs. These serve a different purpose to Social Groups — neither is a lower level of the other.