North West ladies networking organisation Pink Link has chosen DanceSyndrome Founder and Creative Director Jen Blackwell as a guest speaker at their biggest International Women’s Day Conference to date.
Jen aged 33 from Chorley was the winner of the Inspirational Woman of the Year award at the Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAs) 2015, which recognise women in business from across the North West.
Jen, who happens to have Down’s syndrome, founded inclusive dance charity DanceSyndrome, with support from her mum Sue, in 2009. DanceSyndrome provides opportunities for people with learning disabilities to lead their own dance workshops in the community across Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
Jen founded DanceSyndrome because she could not find any opportunities to work in community dance, yet she was determined that she would follow her dream of being a dancer. Now, as a result of the work that DanceSyndrome does, many people like Jen are training to become dance leaders and dancing together with professional dance artists to produce beautiful performance pieces which they perform across the UK. Jen’s hard work and determination was recognised at the EVAs in September and as a result she has been chosen to inspire delegates at the Pink Link International Women’s Day Conference at Ribby Hall Village, Preston, on Tuesday 8th March.
Jen is very excited to be given the opportunity to speak at the event. She said “I still cannot believe I won Inspirational Woman of the Year! I’m so thrilled and grateful. Dancing is my life, I am passionate about dance and about supporting people like me to have opportunities in the dance world. Winning the award and being invited to speak at the conference shows that people with learning disabilities can do amazing things with their lives if given a chance”
DanceSyndrome Managing Director Dawn Vickers says “We are so proud of everything Jen is achieving. I know that Jen wants to inspire other people with learning disabilities to lead a life of their choosing and we are thrilled that she is starting to get the recognition that she deserves.”
Anyone who wants to see Jen’s inspiring speech at the International Women’s Day Conference can get tickets from www.pinklink.co.uk
