Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week 2026
Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week is a national campaign to help people to understand what life is like for people who have Down’s syndrome and to encourage society to become more inclusive in the way that they treat people with Down’s syndrome.
The national theme this year is “Together Against Loneliness.” The theme is developed by Down’s Syndrome Association. They explain the theme:
Let’s Work Together Against Loneliness!
Simple, small things – like a smile, a conversation in the queue for the bus, taking time to listen, making simple changes to the way you do an activity – can make a huge difference.
But our society should be doing so much more.
People who have Down’s syndrome need to be welcomed, valued and included in their schools, community spaces and activities, places of work, places of worship, sports teams and more.
People who have Down’s syndrome need to be supported and empowered to maintain and develop strong, supportive and meaningful relationships.
It’s also really important that the parents and family carers of people who have Down’s syndrome feel supported, understood, listened to and valued for their experience and insights, whatever the age of the person that they care for.
The DanceSyndrome Approach
DanceSyndrome’s ethos is that people with Down’s syndrome and other learning disabilities can achieve amazing things when given the right level of support, and we demonstrate this through dance activities that are co-produced by Dance Leaders with learning disabilities, working with professional Dance Artists, to provide opportunities for them to be more visible in society and to inspire other people to join our communities to see what they can achieve themselves.
Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week is a vital campaign that gives people with Down’s syndrome an opportunity to have their voices heard, so we will be sharing content on our social media during the week that shows what can be achieved when people with learning disabilities are included in their communities, rather than being isolated and lonely.
We’d love if it you could join us on our social media channels to share and support our work during Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week:
Support our work during Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week
There are lots of ways to support DanceSyndrome!
This can be through donations, sponsorship, volunteering or just joining a weekly session!
We’re also sharing a key fundraising campaign this week called Arts For Impact. This is a match-funding campaign by The Big Give. Every donation made between midday Tuesday 17th March – midday Tuesday 24th March will be doubled by The Big Give, ensuring twice the impact for your donation!
We’re proud that our pioneering iCreate choreography project has been chosen for match-funding through this campaign. iCreate is our Artist Development project that gives dancers with Down’s syndrome and other learning disabilities real opportunities to develop as Artists. This year we are planning to present our work as “Origin” at The Lowry, Salford and we need your help to make this life-changing performance happen.
Our work deserves to be shared on a major professional stage at The Lowry, Salford, but delivering a high-quality showcase that is accessible to people with Down’s syndrome and other learning disabilities requires many costly adaptations, so if you can support us during this campaign, your donations can transform the lives of Artists and audiences alike!
What better time to support this campaign than during Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week? Click on the image below to find out more about the campaign and donate!
