My name is Linsey Sim and I have two children, one of whom is a 5 year old girl with Down’s syndrome. After a run as expats in Spain and France we were relocated by my husband’s company to Haywards Heath in the summer of 2017. Soon after our arrival we were welcomed by a local special needs charity called Kangaroos (www.kangaroos.org.uk), who run activities and events for children with additional needs and their families.

 

In November, I began work at Chailey Heritage Foundation (www.chf.org.uk), a charity providing education and care to young people with complex needs. Supporting children with disabilities was a passion of mine even before our daughter was born and these two charities are the epitome of best practice and leaders in the field.

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Our daughter is a huge fan of musical duo Singing Hands, who accompany all their songs with Makaton, a simple sign language widely used by the special needs community. I made an enquiry with them regarding arranging a show locally and this became the basis for an idea to run a big event to raise funds for these two charities which mean so much to me.

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On Sunday 1st July 2018 the Dolphin leisure centre in Haywards Heath have gifted us free use of their main hall, including use of a bouncy castle and the erection of a stage. Singing Hands will be headlining the event, with two local acts offering their services for free as a warm up. We also have volunteers who will do face painting.

The event will be fully inclusive and predominantly aimed at children and young adults with disabilities, encompassing the client groups of the two charities and available to the wider community as a way of breaking down barriers and improving opportunities for the mainstream and SEN community to merge together and have fun.

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I strongly believe that the best way to combat bullying and raise the leaders of our future is to break down the barriers of ignorance at an early age and teach our children to celebrate similarities rather than attack differences.  I would love for this event to present an opportunity for forward thinking parents to bring their kids, with or without disabilities, and unite together in one, fun packed and memorable afternoon.

 

Linsey Sim.