DanceSyndrome is celebrating after being awarded £340,528 in National Lottery funding to support our work with people with learning disabilities.
Beth Cox from National Lottery Community Fund attended our Weekly Company Class in Preston on Wednesday 10th September to present the DS Collective with a giant cheque for the funding, which will support a new project called “Pathways to Thrive”.
The new project, which covers the next five years, is about creating pathways for children with learning disabilities to take part in accessible dance sessions at all ages, leading up to joining DanceSyndrome’s existing sessions for adults.
DanceSyndrome currently co-delivers four public in-person Everybody Dance community sessions and five online sessions every week, alongside a wide range of performance and professional development opportunities. Adults with learning disabilities attending these Community Dance sessions reported that DanceSyndrome has helped them increase their confidence, learn new skills for independent living, volunteering and work, and develop a sense of belonging. Over the last two years, work has begun to expand this impact by working with young people, as well as adults. A DS Youth Collective was formed in 2023, and the success of this group highlighted the need for a wider programme of inclusive activities for children and young people in the North West, and beyond.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, will see new sessions being created for children at different stages of development, including Early Years, Infants, Juniors and Teens. This will create a full pathway in each location where DanceSyndrome delivers sessions for adults.
Julie Nicholson, DanceSyndrome Managing Director said: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to create accessible opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the amazing health and wellbeing benefits of dance and movement. This is so important because we regularly hear from families whose children absolutely love to dance and feel huge benefits from it, but find it difficult to access mainstream activities. Everyone in society benefits when people of all abilities are supported and included. We want to put that into practice from a very young age, so that families can feel connected with their communities and access the life-changing opportunities that dance can bring.”
The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. Everyone at DanceSyndrome is thrilled to have this significant support for our work over the next five years!
If you would like to register your interest in our future workshops for children and young people, please complete the form below.
