A POLITICAL campaigner from Penarth has issued a plea to the Welsh government for a charity to receive part of the £13m earmarked to improve autism services in Wales.

Aled Thomas, 23, who was diagnosed with autism as an adult, has written to the government requesting a consultation exercise on how it plans to spend the £13m it has set aside for the National Autism Integrated Service for Wales.

Mr Thomas, a Plaid Cymru candidate at the recent local elections, wants to see a part of the funds directed to the charity Autism Spectrum Connections Cymru, and has also launched a petition in support of this.

"Whilst I welcome the £13m for this action plan," he said, "I’d be keen for some of it to be spent on supporting this excellent charity."

Mr Thomas believes that consultation with the public would be the best way to establish how to use the money effectively, something he has stressed in his letter to the cabinet's secretary of social services and public health, Rebecca Evans AM.

"This would help to ensure that the money being spent on autism services is spent in a way that is most beneficial for the people living with autism," he said.

"There is a strong campaign for improving the awareness of those with mental health in society and I believe the campaign for autism should have an equal status."

Mr Thomas explained that the charity tailors its support to individual needs, as well as arranging post-diagnostic sessions, employment support workshops, drop-ins and supported social groups.

"There are only three groups of this kind in the UK; two in Scotland and the one in Wales," he said.

"There are 500 people registered with autism in Wales, many of whom use its services on a daily basis.

"As an individual living with this condition, I have yet to come across a better provider of day-to-day support than the one-stop shop in Cardiff, ASC Cymru."

Details of Mr Thomas' petition are set to be be published on the Welsh Assembly website on Tuesday, June 27.