2021-12-31-accounts

3) Continuation ofthe existing Young Achievers Programme for the remainder ofthe 2020/21 academic year. From September 2021,the	3) Continuation ofthe existing Young Achievers Programme for the remainder ofthe 2020/21 academic year. From September 2021,the	3) Continuation ofthe existing Young Achievers Programme for the remainder ofthe 2020/21 academic year. From September 2021,the
Young Achievers programme is to be relaunched to provide a weekly
social development programme during term time for primary-aged
and secondary-aged children with Down Syndrome.
4) The continuation ofthe Empowerment Group, a programme	of
activities carefully designed to give parents/carers of children	with
Down Syndrome the opportunity to take a break from daily life,
strengthen their social networks and to focus on their wellbeing.
Little Achievers
Little Achievers is a weekly teaching class during term time for children,
aged five years and under, with Down Syndrome. Itfocuses on early skills in
the areas ofliteracy, numeracy, fine motor skills, physical development	and
communication. The teacher is a highly professional individual who has
extensive experience in teaching and working with children and young
people with Down Syndrome. Progress is monitored by the class teacher
and reported at the end ofeach term.
The teaching class is accompanied by a wraparound 'Stay and Piay' session
which includes a number offocused developmental and fun play activities,
as well as sing and sign sessions using Makaton. Visiting professionals	also
join the Stay and Play at regular intervals to offer advice to parents,
Two part time employees deliver the group —a manager and a support
worker - supported by a volunteer.
In response to COVID-19, the entire Little Achievers Programme was
successfully moved to online delivery from April 2020 until July 2021.
Teaching dasses took place via screens and therapists arranged 1:1
appointments via telephone or online meeting options. Little Achievers
returned toface toface delivery from September 2021.
Feedback from parents continues to be extremely positive with praise
focusing on the highly organised nature ofthe class, the approachability	of
the staff and volunteers, and the access to professionals that would
otherwise prove difficult for families to achieve. The opportunity to meet
regularly with other parents ofyoung children with Down Syndrome is also a
great benefit, based on parents' feedback.
Training sessions
2021 saw the continuation of our high-quality training events. A wide
variety oftopics were offered to parents and professionals, including
sensory processing training, a speech and language workshop, Positive
Behaviour Support (PBS)sessions, supporting children with Down
Syndrome in education and introduction to Down Syndrome.
Throughout 2021,our training events were hosted online in response		to
COVID-19 and there were 83places booked at training events.
Feedback was incredibly positive across the board, with requests for
repeat sessions from those who were not able to attend and additional
topics to be scheduled from those who did.
Young Achievers
Young Achievers is a programme ofactivities which are carefully designed
to ive children the abili to interact, develo social skills and have fun	with

Section D	Section D	Section D	Section D	Achievements and performance
Summary ofthe main achievements of the charity during the year				The Trustees of DS Achieve are delighted to report a number of key achievements during 2021.
				We have continued to empower parents and professionals
				through our social media, newsletters and WhalsApp groups
				providing information and signposting and providing a platform	for
				peer support. We have seen our following continue to grow and been delighted to welcome new families.
				We have run eight training courses, with 83 places booked, for
				professionals and parent carers on a range oftopics including
				positive behaviour support, sensory processing and supporting
				children in education.
				We ran an online Mindfulness course for parents in the Spring
				helping them with the challenges ofrepeated lockdown
				restrictions.
				We ran a brilliant online 6week cooking skills course for school
				aged children and their families in the Spring. In the summer we
				arranged two gymnastic sessions and a creative arts class for the
				school aged children under our Young Achievers programme. We continued to offer our Little Achievers programme using online
				delivery through to the end of the 20/21 academic year. The
				children were able to make fantastic progress as a result ofour
				specialist teacher, attend Sing &Sign sessions online, and
				parents were supported by the therapists and DSAchieve team.
				September brought a big change with a return to face to face
				delivery in new venues, wonderful new employees joining (Young
				Achievers Leader, Young Achievers Assistant and Little Achievers
				Support Worker) and the launch ofour Young Achievers Social
				Development programme which has secured grant funding from
				Children in Need for the next three academic years.
				Our Little Achievers programme is now in its 4th academic year
				and we have secured grant funding from the National Lottery for
				the next three academic years which really transforms our ability
				to provide a stable and valuable service for the very youngest
				children and their parent carers. We are sorry to be losing our
				LiNe Achievers Manager but are very grateful for her contribution
				to Little Achievers over the past 2 years.
				The appointment ofone new Trustee.
				The creation and recruitment ofan Administrative Assistant role to
				support our Head ofOperations.
				The Trustees ofDSAchieve are extremely pleased with the
				achievements ofour fourth year and the feedback from service users
				about the ositive im act ofservices the chari has delivered.
Section E				Financial review
Briefstatement charity's policy			ofthe on reserves	DS Achieve aims to hold sufficient unrestricted reserves to ensure that any training courses committed to, alongside any administrative costs of the charity can be met for the following six months at any point in time.
				It is expected that both the Little Achievers and Young Achievers
				programme will be largely funded by grant income and the delivery ofthe
				ro rammes will be de endent on successful rant a lications, The
TAR