A parent-led charity supporting people with Down’s Syndrome, their families and carers has been given a vital cash boost thanks to our Wessex region.

Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group has received a £1,000 donation from our Wessex region as part of its Community Champions scheme.

Persimmon Homes makes £64,000 a month available to fund local community initiatives across the UK.

For over ten years the charity has been offering a broad range of services and support from the moment a child is born right through to adulthood. It has tailor made resource packs to help at every stage of a child’s development, with a specially designed pack for new parents.

Kim West, from the charity, said: “The Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group are so proud to have received £1,000 from the Persimmon Homes Community Champions scheme. This money will be going towards our project of Speech and Language Therapy for Children and Young People with Down’s Syndrome.

“For all of us being able to communicate is such a basic need and is part of our everyday life, but it is very difficult for our young people, which is why we pay to provide this vital service to them. It enables our young people to communicate choice, feelings, needs and allows them to socialise and in turn speak for themselves.

“Communication is a fundamental part of our ability to be a part of our workplaces, communities and families so without the help of schemes like this, we would not be able to continue to provide weekly speech therapy for our young people. We are all extremely grateful to have received this money and once again would like to extend our most sincere thanks to Persimmon Homes.”

Pauline Fletcher, sales director at Wessex, said: “We’re really excited to be supporting Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group this month and hope this £1,000 will be of great use to them. I think it’s great that they provide lots of group activities for local people with Down’s Syndrome giving them an opportunity to socialise and make friends.

“The fact the charity was recently recognised with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service shows just how hard the team works and how important this service is for the local area.”

For more information visit www.persimmonhomes.com, or to apply for Community Champions funding visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.