A boy from Wandsworth has received his dream gift – of a box filled to the brim with Waitrose receipts.

Leo, aged 12, was presented with dozens of supermarket receipts after the son of a Waitrose Director read about his receipt collection in a magazine article.

Leo was featured in The Week Junior, which interviewed five children living with autism to mark World Autism Week.

One of the questions the article asked the children was, “what would be your perfect day?” to which Leo’s mum answered, “Leo would be to travel on lots of different buses and trains to a new Waitrose store to get a receipt for his collection.”

Little did the family know that the young son of the Executive Director of Waitrose would flick through the magazine and stumble across his answer.

After seeing the article the family contacted Skylarks, a Richmond based charity that supports children on the autistic spectrum, to see how he could help Leo achieve his goal of collecting receipts from every Waitrose store.

Wandsworth Times: A team from Waitrose delivered the gift to Leo.A team from Waitrose delivered the gift to Leo.

Many people on the autistic spectrum have profound and highly focused interests. For children it can be an interest in trains, but for Leo it is his Waitrose receipt collection.

The 12-year-old has an incredible memory and knows the code numbers of approximately 200 Waitrose stores.

Partners from Waitrose visited Skylarks on Tuesday, June 22, which also happened to be Leo’s birthday, to present Leo with a surprise goody box which, amongst many items, contained receipts from their Dubai and Channel Island stores.

Leo’s Mum said: ‘We are incredibly grateful for the kindness and support Waitrose have shown Leo.

“The receipts will be a wonderful addition to Leo’s Waitrose collection. Leo loves to travel to different Waitrose stores to collect the receipts.

“We have had family from Scotland send receipts from stores there and the Horse Rangers Association, another local charity, also help collect them for Leo.’

James Bailey, Executive Director of Waitrose, said: ‘Having read Leo's story with my son Max it was a great pleasure to connect with Skylarks and help Leo with his quest for Waitrose store receipts. I know the team were delighted to meet Leo.”

For 15 years Skylarks has provided activities and therapies for children with disabilities and additional needs.

They provide information and support for families and carers and offer a range of workshops, therapies and support groups.

Aaron Guiver, Managing Director of Skylarks, said: “We were delighted when James requested to get in touch with Leo’s Mum. The more we can do to raise awareness of our work supporting children with disabilities, the better!”