Shirley's 21mile walk for Downs syndrome Assoc
Tax deductible
Do you want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money in aid of Down's Syndrome Association and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.
More information about Down's Syndrome Association: The Down's Syndrome Association is the only charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, focusing solely on all aspects of living successfully with Down's syndrome.
For those who don't know, Stephen and I had our first child back in November 06, around 3 weeks before the arrival we found out that our baby had a significant heart defect, little grace came along early with a few issues. Her diagnosis of downs syndrome was made also pretty much immediately after birth. Grace had open heart surgery repair the defect when she was only 5 months old, and since then she's never looked back. She is now 14 years old, loving life and looking forward to the future just like any other 14 year old. She is sassy and fun and extremely outgoing with lots of friends. She is dance mad and does many things that her peer group do. She attended mainstream school right through until she went to secondary school so she pretty much defied everything people said she wouldn't do when we were given the diagnosis.
The Downs syndrome association NI and affiliated support group where with us every step of the journey and without that expert knowledge and support i fear we may have crumbled quite a few times over the years. The work that they do starts sometimes before birth these days and continues throughout each persons life, not only supporting the individual with DS but supporting the family.
The last 12 months our DS community have suffered a lot, most have been shielding to keep safe and even for those who aren't, with the restrictions they have lost all of their social activities and networks they built over the years. The DSA have worked very hard to move to online support and provide interesting and fun activities however we all know this is no substitute. The Charity gets no support from government bodies and relies solely on charitable donations which of course have dwindled during the pandemic.
So its time for me to give something back to them, its vital the association remains in place, we have a small office in Belfast that covers the whole of Northern Ireland that i have chosen to raise funds for. World downs syndrome day is the 21st March, 21/3 was chosen as a date because people with DS have 3 copies of of the 21st chromosome.
On 21/3 I will walk 21 miles. For those who know me a walk with the dogs is my normal, and my normal miles in one day is approx 5-7, so this will be a massive stretch but i want to push myself to show the appreciation i have for the work that the DSA does for our family and many many more. Grace has shown us so many times over the years that limitations are only In our minds and the 'sky's the limit'
I plan to capture some videos on the day of my journey and will upload my Fitbit details to show I did indeed complete the walk, , thank you for your support #downssyndromeawareness #extrachromosome #worlddownssyndromeday
Become Shirley Wilson's first supporter by making a donation
More information about Down's Syndrome Association: The Down's Syndrome Association is the only charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, focusing solely on all aspects of living successfully with Down's syndrome.
For those who don't know, Stephen and I had our first child back in November 06, around 3 weeks before the arrival we found out that our baby had a significant heart defect, little grace came along early with a few issues. Her diagnosis of downs syndrome was made also pretty much immediately after birth. Grace had open heart surgery repair the defect when she was only 5 months old, and since then she's never looked back. She is now 14 years old, loving life and looking forward to the future just like any other 14 year old. She is sassy and fun and extremely outgoing with lots of friends. She is dance mad and does many things that her peer group do. She attended mainstream school right through until she went to secondary school so she pretty much defied everything people said she wouldn't do when we were given the diagnosis.
The Downs syndrome association NI and affiliated support group where with us every step of the journey and without that expert knowledge and support i fear we may have crumbled quite a few times over the years. The work that they do starts sometimes before birth these days and continues throughout each persons life, not only supporting the individual with DS but supporting the family.
The last 12 months our DS community have suffered a lot, most have been shielding to keep safe and even for those who aren't, with the restrictions they have lost all of their social activities and networks they built over the years. The DSA have worked very hard to move to online support and provide interesting and fun activities however we all know this is no substitute. The Charity gets no support from government bodies and relies solely on charitable donations which of course have dwindled during the pandemic.
So its time for me to give something back to them, its vital the association remains in place, we have a small office in Belfast that covers the whole of Northern Ireland that i have chosen to raise funds for. World downs syndrome day is the 21st March, 21/3 was chosen as a date because people with DS have 3 copies of of the 21st chromosome.
On 21/3 I will walk 21 miles. For those who know me a walk with the dogs is my normal, and my normal miles in one day is approx 5-7, so this will be a massive stretch but i want to push myself to show the appreciation i have for the work that the DSA does for our family and many many more. Grace has shown us so many times over the years that limitations are only In our minds and the 'sky's the limit'
I plan to capture some videos on the day of my journey and will upload my Fitbit details to show I did indeed complete the walk, , thank you for your support #downssyndromeawareness #extrachromosome #worlddownssyndromeday
Become Shirley Wilson's first supporter by making a donation
Fundraising team (2)
Shirley Wilson
Organizer
Down's Syndrome Association
Registered nonprofit
Donations eligible for Gift Aid.
Henry Cosgrove
Team member
