The walkathon was organised by the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) and the British Embassy in Bahrain to coincide with the first anniversary of London hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

BOC general secretary Abdulrahman Askar and the British Embassy's Deputy Head of Mission, Russ Dixon, visited the RIA Centre to hand over the money.

The centre, in the capital Manama, was originally opened to deal with the educational needs of children with autism.

Bu it has expanded its enrollment programme to include students with other learning and social interaction difficulties.

During his visit, Askar reinforced the BOC's commitment to helping people with special needs.

He said the BOC will continue to launch other schemes and charitable programmes to fit this aim.

Dixon said he looked forward to more joint work with the BOC.

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