When I gave birth over 4 years ago to a rather poorly baby who also happened to have Down syndrome, it was a worrying and scary time. Ailith from Sunshine and Smiles (https://sunshineandsmiles.org.uk) came to visit me in hospital and helped me on my journey of understanding what this was going to mean for our family. During the first year of Izzy's life we were in and out of hospital with her breathing and Sunshine and Smiles supported us through this. Since then we have discovered that the charity does far more than that, and Izzy has benefitted from swimming lessons, Speech and Language sessions, Early Development, Music and Dance sessions and more through Sunshine and Smiles. To be honest a lot of the benefit is really to the parents (and therefore the whole family) in getting to know other families in a similar situation.
I like what Sunshine and Smiles do so much that I jumped at the opportunity of working for them a year and a half ago, and am loving being part of a team that helps and supports so many children and young people from birth into adulthood - they also run a cafe employing young people with Down Syndrome which does excellent coffee, cake and cheese scones! https://21co.org.uk
I've never run a race before (apart from a 'pretty muddy' 5k 5 years ago) and I'm pretty apprehensive about my chances of even finishing a half marathon! Please sponsor me to support a fantastic charity and help motivate me to keep running!! Thank you!
