A Hampton teenager has attracted the interest of the Prime Minister in an idea to get autistic children running a cafe.
Bella Tommey, 15, was at Downing Street to meet David Cameron and tell him about her Give Autism a Chance campaign to open a pop-up café or shop in central London in February.
The teen’s fight was inspired by her 13-year-old brother Billy, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, and follows a family tradition.
Bella’s mother Polly hit the headlines last year when she launched a national poster campaign asking the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call her in an effort to raise awareness of autism.
The Nightingale Road campaigner, who runs the charity Autism Campaign, was back in the public eye earlier this year when she posed like Wonderbra model Eva Herzigova to highlight the issue just before the general election.
Bella’s campaign is part of the youth project Battlefront, run in association with Channel 4, and aims to demonstrate that people with autism can contribute to society in a productive way.
She met Mr Cameron at the launch of his Big Society initiative, which aims to empower communities.
Mr Cameron asked Bella to forward more information to him concerning her hopes for people with autism and how she intends to tackle the issues.
Bella said: “The campaign is going from strength to strength.
“The Autism Trust has agreed to provide expert advice and I’ve had a wealth of support from more than 2,000 Facebook fans, many influential businessmen and women and now from the Prime Minister.
“My next challenge is to find a central London venue willing to host the pop-up café.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here