It currently costs around £130,000 per year to keep Downright Special running with everything we do directly benefitting the children we support. 

Our main areas of expenditure are rent for our premises, salaries for our teaching staff and the costs of producing the specialist resources required for our intervention groups and outreach work in schools. At present, we do not receive funding from any statutory agencies such as the local authority or NHS. We have been generously funded in part over the years by grant-making bodies. We are also reliant on community organisations, individuals and an army of fabulous volunteers to keep us going. 

Donations 

Would you like to do something ‘Downright Special’ and support our vital work? There are lots of easy ways to get involved! If you’ve got a fundraising idea, then contact us on fundraising@downrightspecial.co.uk and we will do everything we can to make things as easy as possible for you! If you would like to donate to our charity or set up regular giving you can do that through our PayPal Giving or Just Giving Pages. Get in touch if you would prefer to donate in a different way. 
Fundraising 
We are reliant on the generosity of our supporters who give up their time to find all sorts of different ways to fundraise and raise awareness of our charity. Are you thinking about getting involved in a fundraising event? Here are few ideas of what you could do: Organise a raffle, Host a coffee morning or bake sale, Do something active like a sponsored walk, bike ride, Tough Mudder, run, abseil or skydive 

Other Easy Ways to Support Us 

Get involved in our World Down Syndrome Day and Awareness Week Activities on 21st March every year. 
Donate prizes for any raffles we might be doing. 
Ask if your place of work, or any business, would make us their chosen charity for the year. 
Ask if any businesses would fund match an event you have organised. 
Shop online via Easy Fundraising. All you need to do is visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk and register, selecting Downright Special as the organisation you wish to support. You shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by accessing your chosen online shop from the links at easyfundraising.org.uk first, each retailer will make a CASHBACK DONATION of up to 15% to Downright Special. 
We would love to hear from you about fundraising ideas. Please call us on 01482 420160 or e-mail: fundraising@downrightspecial.co.uk 

Gift Aid 

If you are a UK tax payer, we are able to reclaim the tax you have paid on any eligible donations received. This is a really simple way of us increasing eligible donations by an extra 25% at no cost to you. To find out more about how Gift Aid works click here: https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid 
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Volunteering 

Are you passionate about building a brighter future for people with Down syndrome in our area? Are you looking for opportunities to be part of an established, successful and friendly local charity which is making a real and lasting difference to families? 
 
Volunteers play a huge part in the success of Downright Special and take on a range of roles in the charity such as fundraising, helping at our social events, welcoming families to our Friday sessions, setting up/tidying up our Friday group sessions, running our bookstall and helping with our IT. 
 
We are a friendly and welcoming team, and you will have fun making a difference! If you think you might be able to spare some time as a volunteer or as a trustee, we’d love to hear from you. Call 01482 420160 or email office@downrightspecial.co.uk 

Safeguarding Statement 

Downright Special takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children extremely seriously and we believe safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. We follow safer recruiting guidelines for staff and volunteers. All Downright Special posts are subject to enhanced DBS disclosure and candidates will be required to disclose any relevant criminal history. 
Our Safeguarding Policies