Tourette charity gets funding boost

1 hour ago

Charis Scott-HolmEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

News image — Hull actor Robert Aramayo (right) won a Bafta for his portrayal of Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson (left) in the film I Swear

Getty Images Two men standing with their arms around each other in front of a publicity board for Bafta. The man on the left is older, with grey hair and a floral shirt. The man on the left is younger with a black suit and shirt and dark hair. — Hull actor Robert Aramayo (right) won a Bafta for his portrayal of Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson (left) in the film I Swear

A Hull charity that supports people with Tourette syndrome has been thrown a financial lifeline.

T.I.C Yorkshire lost its funding in April, but on Monday its bosses announced they had secured grants from The National Lottery and BBC Children in Need.

The grants should cover 90% of the charity's core costs for three years, said bosses.

Chief executive Kim Mitchell said the film I Swear, which premiered in the UK in September 2025 and stars the charity's patron Robert Aramayo, had boosted awareness of the condition.

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder that can cause sudden, involuntary and repetitive movements and sounds known as tics.

Mitchell said: "I think if the film hadn't have been out and the awareness wasn't as strong as it was, we wouldn't have survived this year as well as we did."

After major funding dried up, the charity was left relying on public donations and smaller grants.

Mitchell said both benefited from increase awareness of the condition arising from the film.

She said the charity had received "a lot of really positive publicity" following the film's UK release in October 2025.

Having Aramayo on board had "worked wonders" for fundraising, said Mitchell.

She added: "I think a lot of our fundraising has come off the back of the film and people wanting to help and make a difference.

"There is a lot more understanding [of the condition]."

Kim Mitchell A woman with dark hair pulled back, she is smiling and wearing green-framed glasses. — Kim Mitchell says more schools and organisations are undertaking Tourette syndome awareness training following the release of the film

Mitchell said a number of people had told T.I.C Yorkshire that I Swear had changed their lives "in one way or another", and in some cases had helped alert them to symptoms, in turn leading to diagnoses.

The film is based around the experiences of campaigner John Davidson, who Mitchell said supported her family when her son was diagnosed with the condition.

T.I.C Yorkshire supports more than 1,000 families in Hull and the East Yorkshire region living with Tourette syndrome and tic disorders.

Mitchell said her son, who was five at the time of diagnosis, started having a "rough time" with the condition when he turned nine, and developed coprolalia - which is the involuntary outburst of obscene words, slurs, or socially inappropriate remarks.

"If it hadn't been for the support network that I had, I don't know how we would have got through it," she said.

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