PARENTS of a child with autism have been able to buy thousands of pounds worth of toys for children with special needs.

Anneka Clarke and Jed Lambert recruited friends to embark on the national three peaks challenge, raising a total of £2,672, which they spent on sensory play equipment for their early support group, which helps children with special educational needs.

Their four-year-old son Thomas attended the Redcar and Cleveland Early Support Group at the age of three, where he learned skills through a structured routine and sensory play.

Ms Clarke said: “From starting the group, Thomas struggled to sit still for ten seconds during ‘circle time’ and he wouldn’t communicate with anyone. When we left the group he sat through the whole session, joined in with the actions and even said ‘hello’ to a member of staff.”

“It seems like such a small thing, but little things like this were huge milestones in his development.”

Mr Lambert, with friends Jamie Brown, Craig Wood, Mark Rogers, Craig Wilson, Trevor Young, Claudiu Miclaus, and Geoff Weall, most of whom are taxi drivers, managed to climb Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis and Snowdon, in a time of 23 hours and 58 minutes – beating the permitted time limit by just two minutes.

Mr Lambert said: “It was really hard because the weather was absolutely brutal. We started with Ben Nevis, we got halfway up and we could hardly see due to the rain and mist.

“One of the team, Trevor, volunteers for Cleveland Mountain Rescue, and he said he was very close to calling the whole thing off. In the end we just blasted up as fast as we could and with a lot of hard work and training we managed to complete the challenge.”

The couple have also run competitions, raffles and have done online fundraising, with Thomas even completing a sponsored walk up Captain Cook’s monument.

They have bought sensory play equipment, designed for children with autism and similar conditions, including fibre optic light sources, gel tiles, noisy toys and puzzles.

Ms Clarke said: “We’re so grateful for the Redcar and Cleveland’s Portage Group, and we’re so glad that all of our hard work has meant that other children with special educational needs can benefit as much as Thomas did.”