Our Impact
Over the last fifteen years we have witnessed first-hand the transformational impact our dance activities can have for participants and their wider networks of support. We know our activities can change lives and help people flourish; building confidence, encouraging independence, increasing self-esteem, strengthening physical and mental well-being – improving life chances.
We work collaboratively with community and cultural partners to influence change and overcome the overwhelming barriers and disadvantages that people with learning disabilities face.
Here is some amazing evidence of the impact our work has had in the 2023-2024 financial year.
A survey of Everybody Dance participants in September 2023 showed that, as a direct result of joining DanceSyndrome, participants reported:
Feedback from participants:
“Since starting DanceSyndrome she has a whole new routine to her Saturdays and as a direct result has seen improvement in her college work (foundation skills) which means she has shown enough improvement to continue her classes, something which may not have happened without this routine.”
“I like mixing with other people and helping others. It helps me to understand a lot more. I like getting to know people, sharing feelings with each other and building bonds with people.”
“I love that I can access it from France on Zoom, I feel as though I am part of the Dance Syndrome Community and thoroughly enjoy the dance and exercise classes. I work from home and these classes are high quality and easily accessible at home.”
“Your dance sessions are not only a great way for people to have fun, socialise and increase wellbeing, but more importantly to deliver targeted health outcomes that impact positively on the lives of disabled people… Over time it is conceivable that the role your sessions have on overall health and wellbeing would decrease GP and hospital visits and directly lessen the strain on the NHS and other health agencies.”
Rafik Jassat, Director of Purple Patch, Blackburn
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Performance
In August 2023, our performance team travelled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, our team have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from our audiences at the performances and from the members of our team who took part.
The word cloud shows the responses to the question “What three words would you use to describe the performance?” Larger words appeared more frequently in the responses.
You can read the full feedback from audience members and performers on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival page.
Children & Young People
We achieved Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status and funding in 2023 and embarked on a 3-year project to develop our Children & Young People provision. The plan was to establish a new performance collective, like our existing adult DS Collective, but specifically aimed at providing performance opportunities for young people aged 14-25. This project commenced in September 2023 and has been overwhelmingly successful in a very short amount of time. The DS Youth Collective gave their first public performance at the regional U.Dance Festival at The Lowry Theatre in March 2024 and were selected to participate and perform at the U.Dance National Festival 2024 in Liverpool later in the year.
Extended impact on parents and carers was assessed through a survey in March 2024:
- 100% said that being involved with DanceSyndrome has exceeded their expectation.
- 100% said their own lives have been positively impacted by their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 100% said they felt happier because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 75% said their own mental wellbeing has improved because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 75% said they have had more new opportunities themselves because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 50% said their own physical wellbeing has improved because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 25% said they have more independence because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 25% said their own confidence has grown because of their young person being involved with DanceSyndrome.
- 25% said they have an improved relationship with the person they care for as a direct result of being involved with DanceSyndrome.
On the back of this success, DanceSyndrome is planning to launch Everybody Dance sessions for a range of age groups specifically designed for Children and Young People. We look forward to reporting even more success in this area next year!
“Seeing my daughter enjoying dance makes me feel happy. It has always been a struggle finding dance classes that are inclusive. Many say they are however they didn’t fully understand my daughter which lead to frustration on my part that there was nothing out there for her. I felt guilty that she wasn’t involved. I now feel relief and so happy that she is doing something that she enjoys doing.”
Parent feedback, DS Youth Collective
“I am absolutely amazed by DanceSyndrome and what it stands for. Everyone I have met who is involved with DanceSyndrome have been nothing but welcoming, friendly and approachable. I am in awe of DsnceSyndrome and what it does for people with additional needs.”
Parent feedback, DS Youth Collective
Awards
At DanceSyndrome, we take every opportunity to celebrate the success of all members of our team.
In the past year we have been recognised with several accolades.
DanceSyndrome Founder Jen Blackwell was the proud recipient of a British Empire Medal for Services to Disabled People in the first Kings Honours in June 2023. Dance Artist Donna Wheeldon received the prestigious Chief Nurses Award in recognition of her commitment to supporting Jen (October 2023). The DanceSyndrome team received a Commended Award for Inclusive Innovation at the Northern Power Women Awards in March 2024 and our Everybody Dance project was the winner of the Music and Culture for Wellbeing Award at the Northern Music Awards (see the video below). We were also Finalists at the national Charity Film Awards with our film about our approach to co-production (see below).
We also awarded our own Christine Doolan Award to Dance Leader Ellie Bamber. Ellie was nominated for the award by her Dance Leader colleagues because she consistently showed kindness and compassion for her colleagues throughout the year, making everyone smile with her joyful approach to life.
You can read more about our historical awards and accolades on the Awards page of the website.
“Winning awards shows that people with learning disabilities can do amazing things with their lives if given a chance. I do have Down’s syndrome but that doesn’t define me. I believe that everybody can dance and do things they love no matter how other people define us.”
Jen Blackwell (Founder & Dance Leader)
2 weeks ago we were at the @NordoffRobbins #NorthernMusicAwards. #TeamDS were proud to receive the Music & Culture for Wellbeing Award and we wanted to share David’s amazing acceptance speech from the evening.
You can read more about the award here:https://t.co/z0Ragt99AV pic.twitter.com/zGYvKxw4vr
— DanceSyndromeUK (@DanceSyndromeUK) May 8, 2024
Our impact goes even further beyond this and you might be interested in reading updates on other pages if the website which cover different types of impact:
- Extended impact of our work on families and friends, as well as participants
- Environmental sustainability and our impact on local communities
- Dance Leader case studies
- Latest news stories