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Siblings shine in charity’s viral video
A charity which has created a succession of viral videos for Down syndrome awareness month has shared its latest film – starring two familiar happy faces.
Emma and Matthew Watkins are among the groups of siblings who appear in Wouldn’t Change A Thing’s (WCAT) carpool karaoke-style video, set this year to the soundtrack of We Are Family.
Seven-year-old Emma and mum Mairi, who is originally from Plains, appeared in the group’s original 2018 film entitled 50 Mums, 50 Kids, One Extra Chromosome – which amassed 500 million views and was shared by celebrities on both sides of the Atlantic.
It saw what started out as a Facebook support group become a growing charity, of which Mairi is now a trustee; and their videos to mark world Down syndrome day have become an annual tradition.
Emma has appeared in all four – last year alongside gran Bridget Mclaughlin of Cairnhill, while little brother Matthew, now six, was her co-star for the 2019 Don’t Stop Me Now production in which they donned Queen-inspired costumes to sing along with the band’s hit.
This year the siblings dance and hug as they sing along in the car to the Sister Sledge hit, in a video featuring dozens of family groups of all ages from across the UK and resembling WCAT’S original viral success.
WCAT said of their new film:
“Many new or expectant parents of a child with Down syndrome ask themselves, on receiving their child’s diagnosis, ‘how will this affect my other children?’ – our campaign aims to go some way towards answering that question.
“Siblings of a child with Down syndrome often exhibit a level of maturity above that of their peers and tend to have more highly-developed communication and social skills [and] are often more accepting and appreciative of differences, with the vast majority of brothers and sisters feeling that they are better people because of their sibling with Down syndrome.
“To translate [this], what better way than to let people see the joy of the sibling relationships for themselves, played out on screen!
“Like all WCAT projects, the video is full of fun, but also aims to prompt the audience to question their own beliefs or misconceptions about what having someone with Down syndrome in their lives would mean.”
Posting on social media to launch the video, the charity said: “We’re starting [the] celebrations right back at what was the beginning for Wouldn’t Change A Thing.
“Three years on, we are now an army of family, friends and, most importantly, individuals with Down syndrome, with one common goal – to create a world where negative perceptions of Down syndrome are a thing of the past. We celebrate this beautiful community we are so lucky to belong to, our family members and friends with Down syndrome, and we will tell anyone who will listen that we truly wouldn’t change a thing.”
The WCAT charity, which is a finalist in the national diversity awards taking place later this year, has also released an e-book entitled We Are Family as part of this year’s campaign.
It features stories from people with Down syndrome, siblings and other relatives about what family means to them, to link with this year’s “connect” theme for the global awareness day.