AN APPEAL has been launched to save a lifeline group for children with autism.

National Lottery funding for the out of school club has come to an end and the National Autistic Society (NAS) has no more money to run the Winterbourne-based group.

Group leader Katherine Fielding said: "For many children with autism they are in mainstream schools and they tend not to come out of their shells.

"This club offers them a nice and safe environment where they can come and make friends with other children who have autism."

The group meets weekly at Fromeside Youth Centre and has 10 members aged between 12 and 16 from across South Gloucestershire. There is a waiting list for more children with autism to join.

Added Ms Fielding, who volunteered at the club for two years before becoming leader: “It is somewhere these children can relax. We do all sorts of activities from junk modeling to playing computer games and we run trips during the school holidays.

“But this club is not just important for the children, it is important for the parents as well. They stay during each session and can sit down and talk to other parents about what it is like having a child with autism.”

Kellie Daniels, from Thornbury, whose 15-year-old son Sam has Asperger syndrome, said: "Sam absolutely loves the club. It’s the only place where he can be himself without sticking out.

"He has friends there he’s grown up with, who have known him since he was five. The club gives him somewhere he can go and meet them.

"I don’t have to worry about him when he’s at the club. I know he’ll be safe. He can have a bit of independence, which is so important to any teenager.”

Suzanne Alderton, also from Thornbury, has a 13-year-old son, Steven, who has Asperger syndrome.

She said: "He tried a few mainstream groups before but none of them worked out. He was the last to get picked for team games and always lost in quizzes.

“It was terrible for his self-esteem.”

She said the out of school club had improved her son’s condition.

"Steven’s confidence has improved immensely since going to the club - it’s really changed his life.

"It is the only place outside the family home where Steven feels accepted. He’d be devastated if he could no longer go," she added.

For the past three years the club has been funded by a Big Lottery grant but that ended in January and since then the NAS has been struggling to keep the group afloat.

Chief executive Mark Lever said: “We believe young people with autism deserve the same access to social activities and leisure opportunities as their peers.

“Autism can leave people very isolated. These clubs provide a social lifeline to so many families we urgently need funding is to keep them open.”

The society has launched a £60,000 appeal to fund out of school clubs across the South West. To donate go to www.justgiving.com/nas_oosc_appeal or call 0117 9748413.