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It is a spot any child can go to when they are feeling lonely or down.

And now thanks to former Ulster and Ireland rugby ace Paddy Wallace and his wife Tina these Buddy Benches are being rolled out across Northern Ireland.

The couple launched the Paddy Wallace Fund for Autism at the end of last year to raise awareness of autism and support families and children on the spectrum.

Paddy and Tina, whose son Paddy Jack was recently diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum, want to use their experience to help other families across Northern Ireland dealing with a diagnosis.

Now in one of their first moves, they have announced the launch of the Paddy Wallace Fund for Autism ‘Buddy Bench’ initiative in Northern Ireland.

The Buddy Bench concept first came to popularity in 2013 when a 8-year-old boy called Christian from Pennsylvania in America had the idea as a means to eliminate loneliness and foster friendships among children in the playground.

Taking inspiration from Christian, Paddy and Tina have big plans to roll the initiative out throughout the country and have a Paddy Wallace Fund for Autism Buddy Bench in every town throughout Northern Ireland.

Paddy said: "I absolutely loved the concept of the Buddy Bench and felt that Christian's aims fitted perfectly with who we are as a Fund and what we are trying to achieve, and was something which would be great for local children throughout Northern Ireland.

"Through launching this initiative we want to promote inclusion throughout local communities, encourage children to be kind to one another and encourage children to reach out to each other.

"Each Buddy Bench can be sponsored by a local organisations and to date we have had an overwhelming response from local businesses, individuals and schools wishing to purchase a Buddy Bench.

"I would also like to thank Haldane Fisher who kindly donated timber to help manufacture the first 20 benches, this is something which we are very grateful for."

For further details on the Buddy Bench scheme and the Paddy Wallace Fund for Autism visit www.paddywallacefundforautism.com.

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