A CHARITY is reflecting on a successful year of changing lives as it plans how it can develop in the future.

Cheshire Down's Syndrome Support Group (CDSSG) is celebrating the first anniversary of moving into its office, in Witton Street, which has seen it leap from being a kitchen-table organisation to having an official base with all the benefits that brings.

Davenham mum Julie Duff, from the charity, said: "We moved here because up to this time last year we were literally working out of my kitchen and having meetings after the children had gone to bed.

"We knew we were at capacity and if we were going to grow and take on any more families we would need an administrator and office space.

"It was a big step for us – it was making it a lot more formal, which is what we needed."

The charity was founded in 2007 with the aim of providing a support network for parents and carers of children with Down's Syndrome and raising awareness of the condition.

It started off working with around 10 families across Cheshire but is now in contact with 100, with more than 60 families accessing services regularly.

The office is a base for training courses in a variety of subjects including Makaton, sign language, numeracy and literacy, as well as a meeting place and drop in centre for families.

Julie said: "We haven't had to hire village halls like we had to previously and it's a drop in so families can come and have a coffee and a catch up and talk about things if they want to.

"It's been a really pleasant surprise because we've had some young adults and their families drop by because they'd seen our sign in the window.

"We're really trying to encourage young adults with Down's Syndrome so we can help support those families too, so the fact that they've seen us and just popped in is fantastic."

In the past year the charity, which has five trustees and is run by a four-strong management team, has also set up a football group which meets at Egerton Football Club in Knutsford each week and attracts up to 30 young people with Down's Syndrome aged from five to people in their 20s.

This won the Football Development Programme of the Year award from Cheshire FA earlier this month.

Julie was also invited to represent the UK at the fourth World Down Syndrome Day Conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

She addressed an audience of 250, the title of her 10-minute talk being ‘The Journey to Empowerment’.

"When you sit and look back at what we've achieved in the past 12 months, it's amazing," Julie said.

CDSSG now supports antenatal screening teams, provides positive information packs for new parents whose babies have Down's Syndrome, runs the annual Dosh For Down's awareness day and is working on creating friendship links through opportunities like the weekly football group.

Julie said the charity's next aims are to look for employment opportunities for young adults, develop better links with local businesses and work more closely with the NHS.

They are looking for a chairman of trustees to help them develop.

"I think we've done really well to get to this point," Julie said.

"But part of our strength is to recognise when we need someone external to help us go forward and get the best out of the charity."

They are looking for someone who can network and open doors for CDSSG within the Cheshire community, work with the enthusiastic management committee and who has excellent communication skills, management experience and some experience of working with charities.

Anyone who can help should send a CV to admin@cdssgroup.org.uk by November 13 or ring 07764 502665 for more information.