Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week 2024
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 theme this year is “End The Stereotypes.” A key part of DanceSyndrome’s mission is to challenge perceptions of people with Down’s syndrome and other learning disabilities through our inclusive dance work. All DanceSyndrome dance activities 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. 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 asked our Dance Leaders what stereotypes they would like to challenge this week.
We have created a series of seven videos that challenge those stereotypes:
We’re all individuals with our own unique personalities!
We have lots of independent living skills and skills for work
We have lots of amazing achievements to be proud of!
People with Down’s syndrome & learning disabilities can have friendships & relationships too & not just with other people with learning disabilities!
We actively contribute to our communities and make a huge difference to our local areas
Everyone in our team understands professionalism and works hard to be professional at all times
Every person has their own identity. Disability can be one part of this but it shouldn’t be the focus if the person doesn’t want it to be.
Support our work during Down’s Syndrome Awareness Week
Throughout the week we will be sharing messages about inclusion and how we put that into practice through many different types of dance activity.
Check us out and follow us on these social media platforms to keep up to date and please share our messages to spread the word about what we do!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Linked In
YouTube
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 19th March – midday Tuesday 26th March will be doubled by The Big Give, ensuring twice the impact for your donation!
Our wonderful Ambassador, Giovanni Pernice has kindly donated 2 tickets to see his 2024 tour at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Thursday 4th April (this is a BSL performance) as a prize draw for donors to this campaign.
To be in with a chance of winning:
– Visit our campaign page between 12pm on Tuesday 19th March and 12pm on Tuesday 26th March
– make a donation of £10 or more via this link: Big Give Campaign Page
– tick the box agreeing to share your contact details with DanceSyndrome, (so we can contact you if you win the draw)
– Follow us at @DanceSyndromeUK on social media to find out who wins the tickets when we make the draw on Thursday 28th March!
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!
