Local Assembly Member Paul Davies has recently met with Andrew Edwards, the owner of Freestyle Barbers in Haverfordwest, who has been helping raise awareness of autism by offering free haircuts to children with autism. Mr Davies is currently developing an Autism Bill which aims to address gaps in autism provision across the country, as well as giving autism a proper statutory identity.

Mr Davies said, “I was delighted to meet Andrew Edwards and hear all about the fantastic awareness raising that he’s been doing lately. It’s great that Freestyle Barbers have been making their shop as autism-friendly as possible and have even offered free haircuts to children with autism. This is a great example of how by taking little steps, we can make our society a little more autism-friendly. I thoroughly commend Andrew and his team on their fantastic work.”

He added, “For my part, I’m developing an Autism Bill, which I sincerely hope will result in better outcomes for children and adults living with autism. The consultation period for the Bill has now ended and I will be seriously considering the responses before putting the Bill together.”

Andrew Edwards, owner of Freestyle Barbers said, ““It was such a pleasure to speak to Paul about how we can support the autism community. It’s great to see local politicians taking this matter seriously. I feel the proposed Autism Bill could greatly help people on the ASD spectrum - it’s much needed after hearing about all the stresses families have to go through just for a diagnosis.”