(London, UK) The UK Autism Foundation joined thousands of people including over 130 partner organisations in the biggest ever event to End Child Poverty in the United Kingdom on Saturday 4th October.

Ivan Corea of the UK Autism Foundation met Lord Puttnam, UK President of UNICEF and Martin Narey, Chair of the Campaign to End Child Poverty on the march - which started at Millbank, Westminster and ended in Trafalgar Square. The UK Autism Foundation supported the Campaign to End Child Poverty.

Ivan Corea said: 'This was a hugely successful march in terms of highlighting the needs of the poor. The UKAF was delighted to partner The Campaign to End Child Poverty in this march. We are urging the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling to increase the tax credits and raise the disability living allowance and the carer's allowance. There are so many families with autism who are struggling as a result of the credit crunch. Many
are below the poverty line. They desperately need help. The Government must come to the aid of the vulnerable,' he said.

Of the 13,233,320 children in the UK,5,559,000 - more than a third live in poverty.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with representatives of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, he said:'I believe all those people who are campaigning to end child poverty are doing so because they believe that every child is special, every child is precious, every child is unique, every child deserves the best start in life and you cannot write off any child. Every child deserves the support of this generation.'

The UK Autism Foundation is committed to helping the poor - the charity is aiming to raise £10 million to build the first ever state-of-the-art AUTISM CENTRE in London, to build an AUTISM SCHOOL to service the needs of children with autism from Tower Hamlets to Redbridge and to build up a fund to give grants to the poor - for example grants for holidays and for independent assessments.

The Patron of the UK Autism Foundation is Ilford North MP Lee Scott who is championing the cause of autism in the House of Commons.

Last year Lee Scott MP and Ivan Corea met Prime Minister Tony Blair on autism. Scott also initiated a landmark debate on autism in the Palace of Westminster in March 2007.

Thereare over 500,000 people with autism in the United Kingdom, according to UK researchers 1 in 100 children is on the autism spectrum. The credit crunch is deeply affecting families with autism.

Many families have re-mortgaged their homes and taken expensive loans in order to help their children. The UK Autism Foundation has urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help the poor.