Hanley Energy Hell & Back 2023 Fundraiser

Hanley Energy are taking part in Hell & Back on 30th September 2023 in aid of The Down Syndrome Centre North East and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause.

More information about The Down Syndrome Centre North East:

The journey of The Down Syndrome Centre North East (DSCNE) began in June 2017, when a group of parents came together with a goal of opening a services-led centre for children with Down Syndrome & their families in the North East region. After much hard work and determination, we opened the doors of our centre nearly five years ago on 21st October 2018 and are now providing family-centred support services to meet the individualized needs of nearly 90 children and young people with Down Syndrome, their families plus the professional community in the North East of Ireland through clinical therapies, family support services, education, information, and advice.

DSCNE currently provide an Occupational Therapy service, Early Intervention groups for those aged 2-6 years, Music Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Handwriting without Tears classes and Smart Club for school going children. During the summer months we have held camps which include Drama and Mindfulness groups, yoga, art classes, literacy, Adaptive Dance and more . Siblings are also included in activities so that we are a centre for the whole family and this leads to lots of friendships being formed. During the centre’s closure from March 2020, we adapted our services to virtual platforms in order to still support families and did so again free of charge as we understood virtual support was not the same as that which can be delivered in person, and that many families were facing difficulties, so by doing this we could still reach out to parents to offer our support and assistance. Since 2021 we have been able to offer a blended approach so that families can still access virtual supports, where and when appropriate, if they cannot or do not wish to attend the centre in person currently.

DSCNE is run by a voluntary board of directors & parents of children with Down Syndrome and receives no state funding for the “day to day” operations of the charity. All our therapies, services and activities are offered to family either for free, or heavily subsidised so we are appreciative of each donation or funding, large or small. We are looking forward to continuing to make a difference through 2023 and beyond.