A fantastic fundraising effort by two Windsor school friends has given local charity The Autism Group a £1,000 cash boost.

Scarlett O'Shaughnessy and Annabell Hodgkinson from Windsor Girls School were welcomed to the Maidenhead charity's Pokemon session on Saturday by Clubs Co-ordinator Ruth Barlow.

They got to see first hand how the money they raised will be used to help support young people on the autism spectrum.

The pair from Windsor Girls' School completed their fantastic fundraising effort as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award challenges, organising a host of events including cake and sweet sales at their school where they also delivered an assembly presentation to help raise autism awareness.

Dawn Kohn from the Autism Group said: "We are immensely grateful to the girls for all their hard work which resulted in this fantastic donation, and it was a real pleasure to welcome them to one of our club sessions on Saturday to meet team members and see one of our special interest groups in action. We wish them all the very best with the next stage of their Duke of Edinburgh Award challenge."

The charity runs several clubs catering for the tastes of young autistic people - and the Pokemon characters still have dedicated fans 20 years after they became all the rage. The Autism Group's Pokemon club meets at the Berkshire College of Agriculture in Burchetts Green.