For over 12 years, the DSActive team have strived to provide activities for people with Down’s syndrome all across England and Wales. The DSActive team have successfully run football and tennis sessions for many years and now it is time to launch new activities. This summer the DSActive team, with the support of England Athletics, are launching athletics sessions!
The first session to launch was our a running group with the Didsbury Runners in Manchester. The DSActive team have been working with the Didsbury Runners to plan new routes, as well as providing them with the DSActive Coach Education workshop ahead of the launch. One of the DSActive team went along to the very first session.
Running is one of the fast-growing activities in the UK, thanks in part to the launch of the Run Together programme from England Athletics. Running groups all around England and Wales meet regularly to try out a variety of routes and paces. From those who have never run before,
to those who are well acquainted with their running shoes, the groups can cater for all. Those who run together often socialise together and the community which builds up around the running groups is often the reason many keep going back for more.
The Didsbury Runners in Manchester is one such group. Having started as a small group, they have grown enormously in popularity and their sense of togetherness and community is what drew the DSActive team to them. They agreed to provide the very first running session just for people with Down’s syndrome. The three 
brave participants who turned up for the first session were taken on a 2km route which took them around the park and past the river, before ending up back at the clubhouse of the Didsbury Sports Ground. It was fantastic to see how well the session went, and how welcoming the whole running group were to their latest recruits.
The sessions will continue to run weekly through until the summer holidays, and if they go well, hopefully beyond.
Want to launch a DSActive running session in your area? Contact the team to find out more…