On Wednesday 18th December, Becky Rich was announced as the recipient of the Christine Doolan Memorial Award for 2024.
The award is given in honour of DanceSyndrome supporter Chris Doolan, who sadly passed away in 2021, and it aims to reflect the love that the DanceSyndrome family have for her that will always live on.
Chris Doolan was Dance Leader Pauline Hall’s sister and they both joined DanceSyndrome in 2017. Everyone involved with DanceSyndrome came to love Chris for her kindness and generosity and her straight-talking, no-nonsense attitude. Chris loved all that DanceSyndrome stood for and she herself would help anyone in need. She joined in with the weekly dance sessions in Preston and further afield, travelling across the UK to hundreds of events and showcases. She was determined that Pauline would have the life she chose and never let disability be a barrier. “Nothing about me without me” was her motto, echoing DanceSyndrome’s person-centred values and mission to treat everyone equitably and with respect. Chris had experienced discriminatory practices throughout her work life, and she made it clear to everyone that it was unacceptable; she would challenge anyone to break down barriers for Pauline and her peers to be included and consulted. She was vocal about how much DanceSyndrome had enabled Pauline to thrive and live her best life.
This award was created in 2021 to celebrate Chris’s life and honour the contribution she made to DanceSyndrome and to the Learning Disability community. Every year we look for a winner who has:
– shown bravery, compassion and caring
– refused to give in when there were barriers
– challenged difficulties and overcome them
– been a great friend to others and brought joy and laughter to all.
Like Chris herself, the annual award winner leads by example with integrity and demonstrates great generosity of spirit and heart, giving us all something that we can all learn from.
In 2024, Becky Rich displayed all these wonderful attributes. Becky was nominated for the award by her Dance Leader colleagues because she consistently showed kindness and compassion for her colleagues throughout the year.
Becky is 34 years old from Preston. She joined DanceSyndrome in 2016 and completed our ‘Dance By Example’ Leadership Training. As well as co-leading dance workshops, it soon became clear that Becky had a talent for public speaking, networking and writing letters to generate support for our work. She actively pursued the opportunity of becoming a Spokesperson and Ambassador for DanceSyndrome, being interviewed on TV and radio as well as at high profile events. She has had some amazing experiences including trips to the Edinburgh Fringe, Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street and being a Queen’s Baton Bearer for the Commonwealth Games. Becky is a well-known and well-loved DanceSyndrome representative who always works hard to promote the work we do, but we are especially proud that in 2024 her Dance Leader colleagues have recognised that she also goes above and beyond to be kind and compassionate towards others in our community, making her a very worthy recipient of DanceSyndrome’s Christine Doolan Award.
Becky said “Everyone thank you for voting for me for the Chris Doolan Award. My feelings about the award it means a lot to me and it feels great. I am on top of the world. Everyone I love you in the same way that I love Chris Doolan. I am really proud of myself and I am jolly well proud of my award. This means a lot to me. It is everything to me. Thank you.”
Previous winners of the Christine Doolan Award:
2021 – Pauline Hall
2022 – John Burrow
2023 – Ellie Bamber
Congratulations to Becky from everyone at DanceSyndrome!
While we were collecting the Dance Leaders’ nominations for the Christine Doolan award, several parents and carers gave us feedback that Becky’s PA Shirley Carthy should also be recognised in some way for her own kind and compassionate nature.
The Chris Doolan Award is always given to a Dance Leader, but the DanceSyndrome team felt that the wonderful feedback about Shirley needed to be celebrated too, so we presented her with a bouquet of flowers and a card when Becky received her award.
Shirley truly goes above and beyond when supporting Becky to carry out her role for DanceSyndrome. No task is too much to ask and she is always keen to do more. Shirley has an incredibly positive outlook on every situation and her kindness and caring nature extends to the whole team, not just Becky.
We’re so grateful for all that Shirley does and are so glad that she is also part of our dancing family!
