A coffee afternoon will be held at Fauls Church Hall in Fauls Green next month in aid of The National Autism Society.

The afternoon will be held on Saturday, March 24 between 2pm and 5pm.

The fundraiser has been organised by Paul and Emma Ankers. They decided to raise awareness about autism as they have a daughter who was diagnosed with the condition.

"We have a daughter who suffers with autism and when we were trying to get her diagnosed we noticed that autism is not very well-known."

"We've had it ourselves [cut] where we've been shopping and the noise or something else can unsettle my our daughter and it causes her to have a meltdown and people look on and say that our child is naughty.

"It's not nice and people have no clue, this is why we have done this to make people aware and by doing this it will help loads of families the same as us get the specialised help they need in the community."

Autism is a life-long developmental disability which affects just under 600,000 people across the UK. This means that many families suffer in silence needing help that they don't receive.

Last year the Autism Helpline received over 50 calls every hour that it was open and just £1.50 could pay for a phone call from a parent in need.

Bar the great cause there will be many good reasons to go the afternoon, including a tombola and a raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses. Also available will be autism pin badges and t-shirts.

Paul and Emma are still looking for people to bring along cakes and prizes for the fundraiser, adding: " If anyone would like to donate any bought or homemade cakes of any kind for our Cake stall, or have unwanted gifts, bottles or prizes of any nature for our Tombola or Raffle it would be very much appreciated."

If anyone would like more information, contact Emma or Paul on 07925 873054, or Rosie or Dave on 01948 841142.