Delight for dance charity as it celebrates £160,000 Lottery win
STAFF at an awardwinning dance charity are celebrating after receiving almost £160,000 of National Lottery funding.
DanceSyndrome, based at St James Court in Accrington, was founded in 2009 by creative director Jen Blackwell who has Down’s Syndrome and who wanted to follow her dream of being a dancer and dance leader.
The charity offers dance leadership opportunities to people with learning disabilities and inclusive workshops to both disabled and nondisabled people across the North West.
Dawn Vickers, managing director, said the Big Lottery Fund grant is a ‘huge boost’ and will help support a new social franchising model that will give the charity ‘greater sustainability for the future’.
By the end of the project, DanceSyndrome hope to have a training package that can be used by other groups across the UK to train people with and without disabilities to be dance leaders.
Dawn said: “Receiving this funding is a huge boost for DanceSyndrome.
“It means that we can reach out to even more people and show them not only that dance is a powerful tool for building confidence, life skills and happiness, but also that everyone can be a leader in all activities in our society, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.
“The funding secures a future for our small local charity and gives us real potential to take the work we do to a national level.”
James Harcourt, England grant makingdirector, Big Lottery Fund, said: “We are proud to celebrate projects that make a difference to people and the communities they live in. It’s when you hear about projects like Everybody Dance that you realise the incredible impact that funding has had across England.
“Whether the grant is for £500, or £500,000, our funding is used to run amazing projects led by local people. It really is life changing.”
Jen Blackwell was recognised for her hard work and innovation when she was chosen as the winner of the Inspirational Woman of the Year award at the Enterprise Vision Awards in September 2015.
DanceSyndrome’s Dance Leader Team received the Sporting Chance Award at The National Learning Disability and Autism Awards in July 2016.