A BURY-based charity which is helping parent carers, siblings and young people on the autism spectrum is to strengthen its presence in the town.

Buddy's for Children with Autism is to open a base on The Rock which will encompass a charity shop, drop-in centre, official merchandise and workshops to provide much needed employability skills for young people.

The charity, which has just celebrated its first birthday, was founded last year by Bury mum Jane Lord to assist other parents fundraise to train their own service dogs.

Her son, Joshua, has autism and after much research she realised that having a specially trained service dog would benefit the teenager immensely.

However, with no funding support available and a cost of around £8,000 for the specialist training, Jane spent many months fundraising before Buddy the dog was purchased and successfully completed his training in January.

Jane said: "Since then, we've been fundraising for the second dog, Shadow, his training and a home with a child with autism in Bury. Our most recent fundraising event was at the Fishpool Liberal Club and we celebrated our first anniversary with a family fun day which was a huge success."

Buddy's for Children with Autism has signed a five year lease on the property on The Rock which should be open by the late summer.

Jane continued: "We also want to encompass educational workshops for young people, extra tuition, Lego therapy, a low stimulus party venue, a sensory room and garden. Our mission statement is to inspire hope and contribute to the health and well-being of children with autism by providing the best support through friendship and education”.

Buddy's also need the help of local companies and businesses by donating building materials.

She added: "We hope to inspire others to achieve our goals and require tradesmen and women to donate their time and experience to help us set up the shop. We will also need volunteers to assist and donations of items to sell in the shop.We are looking forward to developing this community initiative."

Recently, Buddy's won a £200 community charity prize courtesy of the Asda store in Bury.

Anyone who can offer help can e-mail buddys4autism@gmail.com, visit www.bfcwa.com, or call 077033 53029.