A NORTH-EAST autism campaigner has helped to create a song to mark the start of her charity's anti-bullying campaign.

Anna Kennedy's self-titled charity has released a video of their new charity single Hollow for their Give us a Break campaign.

The song was written by Macauley Elvin, who was diagnosed with aspergers and dyspraxia, amongst other illnesses, by the age of four.

Mr Elvin found school years difficult due to the bullying he received and was eventually forced to move classes .

"Other pupils in school used to run up to him and touch him then run off saying they had ‘caught’ special needs," said Ms Kennedy.

"In Year Nine, Macauley was moved to another group, however, sadly he didn’t enjoy it as much as he hoped because there were pupils in his class who disrupted class, bullied others and caused many problems for the teachers which made him feel anxious."

But after discovering he loved and excelled in singing and performing at college, the 20-year-old has written a number of original songs and recorded them in a studio.

Mr Elvin also received praise from boyband Blue after they heard the charity song he had produced.

The song has been released to mark the start of anti-bullying week which runs until November 17.

Research for the campaign found that more than half of people under the age of 25 will, at some point, experience bullying.

It also found that children with autism spectrum disorders are bullied far more often than their typically developing peers, which is nearly five times as often – but parents feel that the rate is even higher than that.

Ms Kennedy, originally from Middlesbrough, said: “Bullying can make any child’s life unbearable and families contact our charity sharing their children are being bullied in schools because of their autism, also within the community and increasingly online.

"It is simply unacceptable for any childhood to be spoilt by victimisation or bullying and we as a charity support taking a zero-tolerance approach towards all forms of bullying.

"Each day can be a battle for these children and their families, their own fight is simply for support.’

  • Hollow is available to download from iTunes.