Down Syndrome Cheshire is celebrating the outcome of the Down Syndrome Bill this week as it received full support from the House of Lords. This came during a month of awareness for the Down syndrome community as people chose to #speakupfordowns and show their support for the Down Syndrome Bill.
Sponsored by Dr. Liam Fox MP, this bill is to make provision for meeting the needs of persons with Down syndrome; to place a duty on local authorities to assess the likely social care needs of persons with Down syndrome and plan provision accordingly; and for connected purposes.
Many famous faces supported the campaign including athlete Rebecca Adlington OBE, Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas and TV actor Lee Boardman.
The charity has received the support of the Cheshire local markets team at HSBC this month as the charity marked international World Down Syndrome Awareness Day 2022 #WDSD2022.
With an estimated £50million in loose change rattling around our homes Down Syndrome Cheshire and ten Cheshire branches of HSBC appealed to customers to support a ‘Pennies Sock Amnesty’ – filling a sock with pennies and dropping it into a local branch to raise funds for the charity and has raised more than £80 for the charity so far – that’s a lot of pennies!
WDSD is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.
The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. The reason the charity wears colourful socks on #WDSD is because chromosomes look like socks.
Laura Concannon, network manager for HSBC comments: “We have been really touched with the response from our customers and the generosity they have shown. As a team we wanted to support Down Syndrome Cheshire after finding out more about the myths around the condition.
“We’re delighted to support Down Syndrome Cheshire during its annual awareness campaign and look forward to inviting people with Down syndrome into our branches across Cheshire through a work experience programme over the coming months.“
The Cheshire community has supported Down Syndrome Cheshire with the #WDSD awareness day by wearing colourful socks, selling sock biscuits and taking on sponsored challenges.
To find out more visit the Down Syndrome Cheshire website at https://dscheshire.org.uk/world-down-syndrome-day-2022/
