About this Event
Join local author Catherine Asta for a very relaxed gathering over coffee and cake.
What to expect:
- Coffee and Cake available to purchase
- *A short reading from Still Living
- Artwork to browse
- Books available to buy and have signed
- Space for conversation and connection.
- An opportunity to support a local charity
- Raising awareness of breast cancer and ME.
About the charity we are supporting:
25% of all sales from books and artwork on the day will be donated to Any donations made through the tickets will also be donated to the charity.
As a charity they rely entirely on the generous donations of local people. You can head to their website and find out all the ways you can donate.
Tickets are free (with an optional donation) but places are ticketed so we can keep the gathering small.
The Venue:
Outside The Box is more than just a cafe… not only does it serve great coffee and a delicious menu in a beautiful building, it helps people with learning disabilities to achieve more independent, fulfilled lives.
They work hard to source from local suppliers and ethical producers who they know and trust. They are family, cycle and dog friendly. And they strive to be green and plastic-free.
We will be in a room to ourselves - so there won't be any background noise from the cafe.
Connection without expectation:
Accessibility is about more than being able to get through the door. We all arrive with different capacities, energies and ways of being and this gathering is designed to make space for that.
- Come alone or with someone
- Join a conversation or sit quietly with a coffee
- Stay for the whole hour or leave when you need to
- Wear headphones, a face mask, bring a blanket
- Do whatever you need to feel comfortable
Accessibility:
The cafe is opposite a large public car park with free blue badge parking and there is also on street blue badge parking.
The venue has step free access and is wheelchair accessible as well as accessible disabled toilets.
My own accessibility needs:
*I live with an energy-limiting health condition, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), and chronic pain which can result in significant and sometimes unpredictable fluctuations in my physical, cognitive, and functional capacity.
I therefore have to build in reasonable adjustments into all of my work in recognition of my condition. In addition to using a powerchair and minimising speaking/noise this can often mean withdrawing from, postponing or canceling an event or professional engagement.
It might also look like changing the format of an event if my health status means that participation would be unsafe or likely to worsen my condition.
In this case, my assistant or I will provide notice as soon as possible and, where appropriate, will:
- Cancel/Reschedule the event
- Revise the planned format of the event
We have designed this event with as many of those reasonable adjustments built in and share this in order to manage your expectations.
About Catherine
Creating spaces where stories are heard, belonging is felt, and transformation becomes possible.
Catherine is an ex-NHS strategist turned psychotherapist, writer, consultant, facilitator and artist. Her work brings together storytelling, systems thinking and trauma-informed practice to help create more compassionate, neuro-inclusive spaces for healing, connection and belonging.
Host of the globally recognised podcast and community 'The Late Discovered Club' - the number one ranked podcast for late-identified autistic women, as well as host of the NHS-funded ‘Autism Central’ podcast.
Her bestselling book ‘Rediscovered’ is currently being translated internationally, with her memoir ‘Still Living’ published in April 2026.
Through her 'Gather + Belong' Circle Design Programme, she supports individuals and organisations to create trauma-informed, neuro-inclusive peer spaces that are deeply human.
She also delivers post discovery peer support circles for late discovered autistic women from across the world to explore their journey together. At the end of 2025 she was appointed as an Associate to co-author a PEERS framework for the £6 million NHS funded National Autism Peer Education Programme.
In parallel to her creative work, she collaborates with organisations across healthcare, wellness, education, charity and community sectors through her consultancy - including working as an Associate for the Anna Freud Centre in London.
Whether she is developing national NHS training content, advising and shaping programmes, transforming services and workforces or guest lecturing the next generation of neuro affirming therapists - her work is rooted in compassion and a deep commitment to inclusion.
Underlying all of it is a curiosity about the stories we carry, the spaces we create together, and how both can influence and transform the systems we live and work within.
A two-time breast cancer survivor, she lives on the edge of the moors in Ilkley, Yorkshire in the UK where the landscape inspires and informs much of her writing and creative work.
Head to her website
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Event venue & nearby stays
Outside The Box Cafe, South Hawksworth Street, Ilkley, United Kingdom
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