Providing assistance dogs to families of children with autism has earned a woman from Andover a nomination in this year's Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year Award.

Hayley Kirby-Bulner runs Together Anything is Pawsible, or TAPS - a charity which helps to purchase and train dogs, before placing them with families whose children need extra support.

The charity currently has 13 assistance dogs either already placed with families or in training. Hayley came up with the idea for T.A.Ps in 2018, after paying for a dog called Fern to be trained for her son, Mancub, who has autism.

(Image: Pawsible charit y) The red spaniel puppy instantly clicked with Mancub, who at the time, was non-verbal and didn't show his emotions.

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Hayley said: "When she came home and Mancub saw her, he just instantly changed and his little face lit up and he just showed some emotion. He started interacting with her and they were following each other around.

"It was just so incredible to see because prior to that, he had just sat in a corner and hadn't wanted interaction or eye contact. The changes were just instant and they were huge."

It takes around two years to train a dog from when they a puppy through to adulthood, which T.A.Ps tries to tailor to the individual children's needs.