Stockport-based leading software house Cheshire Data Systems – CDL – is leading the way for a good chat as it has donated £2,000 to the South Manchester Down’s Syndrome Support Group (SMDSSG), to help support its incredibly popular ‘Chatterbox Club’ at Heaton Moor Evangelical Church, Stockport.
The local, volunteer-run charity SMDSSG … provides training, resources, support and information (including a monthly newsletter), as well as simply a welcoming space where families and carers with children, who have Down’s syndrome, can meet, chat and enjoy a coffee. For children and young people, the group runs youth clubs, social events, parties and the family social occasion; Chatterbox Club, which features group speech and language therapy sessions led by trained specialists, sign and sign classes, arts and crafts and yoga.
The donation was made through the CDL Fund … a reserve of money that is managed through the company’s partnership with local community foundation, Forever Manchester, as part of CDL’s active corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme and aims to make a long lasting difference to the surrounding Stockport area at a grass-roots level.
Following the donation .. a number of CDL representatives went along to pay Chatterbox Club a visit. CDL
Helen Trueman, Learning and Organisational Development Manager at CDL, commented:
“We got talking to a number of regular attenders and it was amazing to hear just how much the club means both to the children and parents that attend. Group therapy is clearly a very positive way of learning and the session was extremely fun and interactive. It was great to see each child’s face light up as they took part!”
Speaking of Chatterbox Club, parent Clare Hillier from Chorlton, said:
“Coming to Chatterbox Club was a real turning point for us. We first attended when our son, Benjamin, was about four months old, at which point we had some fairly profound anxieties about what his condition would mean for him, both in the present and future. Meeting and talking to families in the same situation however, and seeing people just getting on with life with such a positive outlook, helped us enormously.
“We have attended every month since then, often with our other family members who are always made to feel extremely welcome. We are very grateful to have access to such a welcoming, supportive and well-run group.”
Speaking of the donation, Bernadette Brooks, SMDSSG Group Coordinator, added:
“SMDSSG is extremely grateful for the donation from CDL, which has enabled us to continue providing an important and valued service, and vital resources, to families.”