Well, unsurprisingly, World Down Syndrome Day 2024 was another one for the album! It was a day full of positivity, awareness-raising and celebration of our amazing Down syndrome community, both here in Cheshire and around the world. Our Gingerbread Sock Biscuits celebrated ten years of support with our wonderful friends at Roberts Bakery in 2024. With well over 40,000 biscuits being delivered, sold, and munched across the North West, we're looking forward to some whooping fundraising (if you were good enough to host a biscuit sale and have some fundraising for us, then we would ask that you return this to us ASAP...thanks!) We were truly delighted with all the amazingly colourful socks produced for our Knitted/Crocheted Sock Challenge that were received to the hub this year. They were all displayed proudly as dazzling sock bunting on WDSD - with everyone who knitted or crocheted socks receiving one of our exclusive enamel gingerbread sock biscuit pin badges! It was also the tenth anniversary of our original 2-1-3 challenges (numbers chosen for being so closely linked to the chromosomal picture of Down syndrome) - which saw our very own Julie Duff plank her way around Cheshire throughout the whole of March! So, if you challenged yourself this year, helping to raise awareness and those all-important funds, then thank you - you made a difference. Once again, Steve and the Education Advocate team took to the road to deliver some amazing Awareness Assemblies to schools across the whole county. From Ellesmere Port to Macclesfield, from Warrington down to Stoke, we presented to over 3000 pupils and staff who warmly welcomed us and demonstrated just how much support, respect and kindness there is across the region for our DS community and their families. An undoubted highlight this year was the Downing Street reception hosted jointly by the National Down Syndrome Policy Group and Sir Liam Fox MP, to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day 2024. This also allowed Sir Liam to update on the supporting guidance surrounding the DS Act. So, after an early start to catch the train down to London, Julie, Lucy and the gang had a very exciting day meeting lots of other wonderfully inspiring members of our UK DS community. Julie even managed to squeeze in a Day 21 plank at the Women's World War 2 monument! This year's special message was #iWant, which called on our members to speak out and articulate their hopes, dreams and aspirations. And by doing this, they were empowering themselves to manifest these goals and work towards turning them into reality. Click here to watch our super inspiring video.

Our members had a week of incredible adventures whilst attending our Easter break Forest School residential. Once again, in the fantastic setting of Petty Pool Vocational College, everyone have had an amazing time stay away from home, making new friendships and learning new skills. A huge shout out must go to the team of staff and volunteers who worked their socks off to make this such a memorable week. Thanks also to our funders Cheshire West and Chester Council who made it all possible. Here’s just a taste of what they all got up to…

Steve Morgan Foundation 2024 Awards These awards celebrate the fantastic work of the organisations and people within the SMF family of charities, recognising the valuable contribution they make towards changing lives for good. DSC are finalists in the 'Disrupters for Good' category and stand to win a whooping £10K from the £100,000 prize pot! Wish us luck for the 22nd of April. Cheshire Life Champions Award The Cheshire Life Champions Awards celebrates volunteers, charity organisers, entrepreneurs, good neighbours, public servants and artists across Cheshire, and who will be honoured at an awards dinner at The Cheshire View, at Christleton, near Chester, on Thursday, 16th May. And fingers crossed this might include DSC!

Can you believe after just six short weeks following open heart surgery, Superstar athlete, Aidan was back participating in a Parkrun event, having gradually built back up from walking to running! Aidan trains with Helsby Running Club and really likes track sessions. To run the 10Km he ran 3 times a week and is a regular at Parkrun in Delamere, where he recorded a fantastic time of 1hr and 6 mins. We think this is amazing, Aidan, and we're so proud of your commitment to keeping fit and healthy.

We're so proud of DSC member, Ben Wilson and are delighted to share his journey of achievement as he continues to work hard to realise his goal of becoming a professional dancer. Ben started dancing with our Winsford-based DS dance group, facilitated by Cheshire Dance, about six years ago and hasn't looked back! Click the button below to read Cheshire Dance's full article where they talk to Ben about his love of dance and about his dreams and aspirations for the future.

Wednesday 28th February was a historic day for Down Syndrome Cheshire. The Department for Health and Social Care came to our HQ to consult with our members about the Guidance for the Down Syndrome Act. We were proud that we were in a position to support all our members, those who needed communication aids, and those who required one-to-one support. We were also able to create an opportunity for our #iChooseBoard to hone their skills and to facilitate break-out sessions whilst the civil servants gained more knowledge and experience about DS so they are better informed about the condition. Working in partnership with Petty Pool College and Looking forward activities enabled this session to be such a success. It was a truly inspirational day. We would like to thank the National Down Syndrome Policy Group for asking us to host this session and People Health Trust for their funding.

We are so incredibly grateful to long-time family community member, Mike Avraam, for stepping up to the challenge of developing and improving the storage options and audio-visual setup in our Hub's activity room. After consulting with a well-known Scandinavian lifestyle furniture emporium, Mike set himself the challenge of building some bespoke seat/storage bins at one end and then constructing a super smart 'wall' of white glossy loveliness at the other - leaving a perfect space to relocate our modestly-sized TV, ready for film nights and presentations. Mike achieved all this in just a few short weeks, completing the work in time for us to host our monumental DS Act guidance symposium with the DoHSC on 28th February. You really can't put a value on support of this kind - it's immense and will make such a difference to our day-to-day operations. So, thank you, Mike - we all think you are a superstar!