TWO charities have been given a £7,500 Christmas present after a year of fundraising by Swindon Cares.

DASH, which supports young adults with autism and respite care specialist Hop, Skip and Jump, were each handed £7,500 cheques at a ceremony at the Tawny Owl pub yesterday.

The money was raised at a series of events organised by the group from concerts and golf tournaments to quizzes.

Even the cancelled Swindon Half Marathon raised more than £1,000 because entrants decided to run other races to fulfil their sponsorship promises.

Both charities have been supported by the group for the past two years.

Clarissa Mitchell, acting CEO of Hop, Skip and Jump said: “The money has been a lifeline to many parents and children.”

“Swindon Cares has upped our profile. There is nothing like bringing a whole lot of energy together to make things happen.”

She said people had got in contact to fundraise for them because of the work Swindon Cares had done.

The organisation was a vital resource for families of children with special needs. One mother was at her wit’s end when she approached them. She and her family had moved from Japan for her husband to work at the Honda plant.

Their son was autistic and could not go to school because of the language barrier. There was no one else to help.

“We are the only flexible and immediate service in the whole of the UK except A&E,” she said.

One young child who had suffered abuse from his father and been unhappy in foster care had been brought to the charity with emotional problems that led him to hit, bite and scratch staff.

But thanks to them and the support from Swindon Cares, he had gradually learned there was love in the world.

Only a week ago he had put his arm around another child while they were decorating a Christmas tree. It was a major milestone because until then, as far as he was concerned, touch had meant abuse, she explained.

A desperate father about to undergo an operation and trying to find someone to care for his terminally ill son was also helped by the charity. When the teenager was picked up afterwards he told his father he had such a good time that he would remember it when he went to Heaven.

“He did that 10 days ago,” she added.

Ceri Gardiner, team leader for the DASH information service said the money meant three of its groups could continue.

“There is no funding out there for adults on the autistic spectrum,” she explained. Local authorities had no money to spend.

“Without charities and donations we would not exist.” She added: “I cry when I think about how the last two years has made a difference.”

In Swindon it was thought there were around 2,500 families with people on the autism spectrum and DASH was dealing with around1,000 of them.