Fundraising News

An Evening with the Pundits with Special Guest Alan Shearer

• Tuesday, 17 January 2012 09:28

The DSA are delighted to be involved with Ups 'n' Downs's first ever Evening with the Pundits and Black Tie Ball on Friday 9th March 2012 at Wicksteed Park Pavilion, Kettering with special guest Alan Shearer and host, Matt Lorenzo.

Tickets for this event are £40 per person, £300 for a table of 8 and £350 for a table of 10.  Included in this price is champagne on arrival, a three course meal with table wine, auction and raffle, music till late and most importantly, a 45 minute Question and Answer session with the legendary Alan Shearer.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 01536 512 475 or online direct from Wicksteed Park (www.wicksteedpark.co.uk).

We look forward to seeing you there!

DSA delighted to be working with new Charity of the Year Partner for 2012

• Thursday, 12 January 2012 14:00

We are delighted to announce that The Centre has selected the DSA as their 2012 Charity of the Year partner.  Through the Centre, the staff of the Down’s Syndrome Association will be able to benefit from vital training on a wide range of issues including communications, writing, social media and management development. Through their courses, the staff of the association will be able to enhance their skill base which will then directly be applied to providing and developing lifelong support to people with Down’s syndrome and their families.  

Managing Director of the Centre, Jan Burnell, explained

“Every year we select a Charity of the Year, that in our opinion does excellent work and who we’re keen to assist by providing free places on our training courses. This year we selected the Down’s Syndrome Association as we felt their work and approach was dedicated, inspiring and important. We’re excited to be supporting them in the coming year and hope our training will be able to help them achieve their goals for 2012 and beyond.”

Upon learning that the Association had been selected Corporate Manager Patricia James said

“The Down’s Syndrome Association is elated to have been selected as The Centre’s 2012 Charity of the Year partner. As a result of our partnership, we are confident that our staff will be able to learn and enhance current skills that will enable us to raise awareness about the condition that is Down’s syndrome and support our membership. We are looking forward to working with The Centre throughout 2012."  

WE HAVE PLACES! The Paris Marathon

• Tuesday, 10 January 2012 11:41

If you have your heart set on taking part in a Marathon this year but didn't manage to get a place in the London Marathon, why not take part in the Paris Marathon instead?

The event starts on the Champs - Elysées and takes you through the sites of Paris including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, finishing on Avenue Foche.  Join the 6,000 strong British runners that travel to this event every year.  Voted as one of the top 10 Marathons in the world, this is an event not to miss out on!

We ask for a minimum sponsorship donation of £1200 per guaranteed place and will provide you with full fundraising support as well as a fabulous DSA running vest.

For further information contact Lisa on the above details.

Raffle Winners Announced

• Friday, 09 December 2011 00:00

The 2011 raffle winners are as follows:

We'd like to thank everybody who entered this year's raffle which has bought in over £28,000 for the work of the Association.

DSA Christmas Cards 2011

• Tuesday, 04 October 2011 08:52

This year’s personal range of cards including the stunning design by Tazia Fawley. Taz is from Bristol and has been painting for the past 10 years. She has painted over 70 paintings and sold almost half of them. Although her main interests are sea and landscapes, Taz painted this fantastic forest scene especially for the Down’s Syndrome Association for use of this year’s Christmas card. We’d like to say a big thank you to Taz and her Mum, Gylda, You can see more of Taz’s work at tazpaintings.wordpress.com.

If you haven't already received your Christmas card brochure, please just give us a call on 0845 230 0372 and we'll send one out to you.  For those of your who have got your brochure and are looking for the cards online, unfortunately due to the fact our website is under construction, we are unable to upload the brochure at this present time - please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

You can still order last year's designs in one of our special multipacks - just click here.

Christmas cards are a vital part of our income so please help us by getting into the Christmas spirit and ordering your cards today!

Macquaries Bank Wins Bloomberg Square Mile Relay and Money for Charity

• Friday, 16 September 2011 13:08

On Thursday 15th September at the 2011 Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, the Macquarie Bank team edged out 115 competing teams to take 1^st place and the grand prize of £5,000 donated to a charity of their choice – the team picked the Down’s Syndrome Association (DSA). 

Paul Plewman, Head of Macquarie's Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities business in EMEA said,

“We choose the DSA as our charity as we are already very familiar with the work that they do and so know how valuable their role is in the support of people with Down’s syndrome in the UK"

Each team consisted of 10 runners Glenn Harrison, who ran the last and decisive leg for Macquarie’s team said, 

"The race was very competitive with the lead changing several times. Our aim was to get out to a solid start, put ourselves in a good position and then rely on the overall consistency of each team members times to wear down the opposition.  Fortunately this worked out well - we finished first and secured vital funds for the DSA's work."

Macquarie Group is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services acting on behalf of institutional, corporate and retail clients and counterparties around the world.

Founded in 1969, Macquarie operates more than 70 office locations in 28 countries.  Macquaries employs more than 1,500 people in Europe, Middle East and Africa and the regional headquarters are in London.

Everyone at the Down's Syndrome Association extends are most sincere thanks to the Macquarie Bank team for winning and picking us to receive the generous donation.

OVERSEAS EVENTS - Take Up The Challenge

• Thursday, 14 July 2011 14:27

We have a number of overseas and UK challenges you can take part in throughout the year.  You can trek, cycle or kayak across the UK, South Africa, the Grand Canyon, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Kenya, Switzerland, Lapland, the list of challenges and choice of countries to visit is endless!

If you're looking to do something slightly different for charity then why not take up one of our fantastic overseas challenges.  You can see just some of the challenges on offer by going to our Fundraising section under Challenge Events or just click on Discover Adventure or Global Adventure.

For further information, please don't hesitate to call either Alexa or Lisa in the Events team on 0845 230 0372 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The DSA's Very Own Supermen

• Tuesday, 12 July 2011 00:00

We are very lucky at the DSA to have such inspirational and dedicated fundraisers who will undertake the craziest challenges possible to raise money for us with the most incredible passion and commitment. One such fundraiser is parent member Johnnie Wraith who with 13 friends, family and colleagues, took on one of the biggest challenges EVER for the DSA!

“On the 8th April 2005, Max Wraith was born at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that he had Down's syndrome. Over the intervening years, Max's family and friends have learnt to live with the condition, experiencing both the unique joy and love that Max inspires in us, and also coping with some of the harder emotions and realities that disability inevitably involves.

Continue reading >

Sussex County Cricket Club pick Down's Syndrome Association as Charity Partners

• Thursday, 26 May 2011 12:55

Sussex County Cricket Club are delighted to announce a tie-up with the Down’s Syndrome Association as one of their charity partners.

The partnership with Sussex will see the squad wearing the DSA logo on their Friends Life t20 shirts throughout the campaign which begins in June. There will also be many forthcoming events that the DSA will be able to benefit from the Club.

Patricia James, Corporate Manager at the Down’s Syndrome Association, said of the announcement

 “We are delighted to officially formulate the partnership with Sussex County Cricket Club and the recent Press & Media Day was a real launchpad for the DSA’s association with the club.   We are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with Sussex and the exposure we will gain during the Friends Life t20 campaign is invaluable for a charity like ours”.

Trevor Mould, Sussex’s Marketing & Communications Manager said

“There are 60,000 people living in the UK with the condition and one of the DSA’s main aims is improve the knowledge of Down’s Syndrome across the country.  We are confident that with the national exposure available to them through Sussex County Cricket Club, they will continue to grow as a charity”.