A SUPPORT service for children and young people on the autism spectrum has won the 'Inspirational Education Provision' award at the National Autistic Society's Autism Professionals Awards.

'IMPACT,' who are run by Gloucestershire County Council, claimed the prize at the annual ceremony which was held in Harrogate on March 7.

The service, formed in 2015, offer support for children and young people who are on the autism spectrum and in mainstream schools, colleges and early years settings.

IMPACT's team consists of specialist advisory teachers, specialist senior educational psychologists, an augmentative and alternative communication tutor and speech and language therapists and is accredited by the National Autistic Society.

Eighteen months ago, IMPACT launched the Gloucestershire Autism Inclusion Quality Mark (GAIQM), an innovative project that aims to increase understanding of diversity among local schools.

They’ve delivered training to over 1,500 teaching and support staff so far. Three awards have been achieved already and over 50 schools are working towards it.

Councillor Lynden Stowe, cabinet member for economy, skills and growth, said: "We are committed to supporting Children and Young people with autism, and their families, to help them reach their full potential and achieve their goals in life.

"This award is a great achievement for our IMPACT team and we are very proud of them and the fantastic work they do to train and support schools to help them meet the needs of pupils with autism."

Carol Povey, Director of the National Autistic Society's Centre for Autism, said: "Huge congratulations to IMPACT. The team should be very proud for standing out among so many high quality nominations and impressing the judges with their important work supporting autistic people and families and improving understanding of autism in schools."