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Improving
the quality of life for Russian children with Down syndrome
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Downside
Up Express News
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September
2007
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| In this issue: | |||||
| Ski Race | |||||
| New Project, seeking sponsors | |||||
| Job Offers at DSU | |||||
| Early Intervention Centre News |
• By 1st September 2007, the number of children registered with Downside Up reached a total of 902, including 261 families from Moscow, 106 — from the Moscow region, 535 families from other regions of Russia and CIS (former Soviet Union) countries. |
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• We are happy to announce that in May 2007 Downside Up won a big grant of the OAK Foundation in support of a five-year project aimed at fostering education oppportunities for children with Down syndrome in Moscow. We will run this project in close collaboration with our colleagues from Moscow pre-schools and primary schools as well as with experts from the Down syndrome Educational Trust from England. In result of our activities, children with Down syndrome will be able to receive quality pre-school and primary-school education. |
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Professor Sue Buckley, OBE, Director for Research and Training of The Down Syndrome Educational Trust and Emeritus Professor of Developmental Disability of Department of Psychology University of Portsmouth, UK, one of the world's leading researchers in the education and development of children with Down syndrome, visited Downside Up in May 2007. Professor Sue Buckley was invited by Trustees to give an expert review of early intervention and educational services provided by us to families raising children with Down syndrome. At the end of the visit Sue met staff of Downside Up to discuss aspects of educational programmes in England and in Russia. Sue said: “I really enjoyed my visit to Downside Up and to Moscow. I was most impressed by your work, your staff team and all that I observed.” |
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• In the last issue of Express News we told you a story about Sofia Govorkova, a little girl that that was adopted by one of our families. Sofia is happy with her new family, she is growing up, gaining weight and smiling a lot! Thank you to all who made a contribution! Today we would like to tell you you another special story. Marina Pavlova is three years old with Down syndrome and both her parents are blind. Sergey, her father, works at a factory for people with visual impairments. Natalia, her mother, graduated from the Moscow State University and is a doctor of legal sciences, specializing in civil law. In 2007 the Pavlovs gave birth to a new child. Now the family is in a very difficult situation - they need a nanny to help with children but they have no money to pay. We ask for financial support from all who can help. You can call to the Pavlovs directly at 8-499-723-47-98 or donate to DSU via internet or Sberbank and we will make sure that the money will be given to the family. Please, let us know that you donated money for the Pavlovs by e-mail or writing their name on the bank form. |
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| Christmas cards are already on our web-site! |
Christmas season is not far off, the collection of Downside Up Christmas cards is already available on our site. |
| Fundraiser evening in Guernsey, Channel Islands |
At the end of June, Diva Opera, the leading British chamber opera company performed La Traviata and Don Pasquale. This fundraising event was generously organised by David & Christina Hodgetts. The Hodgetts secured sponsorship from Generali Worldwide and John & Geraldine Whittaker, in order to ensure that all ticket proceeds would benefit Downside Up. The performances were held in the presence of the Lieutenant-Governor and Lady Malbon, the head of the Island, the Bailiff, and Mrs Rowland. David Hodgetts was delighted to be able to announce that a total of £43,000 had certainly been raised. |
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| Companies Volunteering their Time to Make a Difference |
In June 2007, several staff members from Goldman Sachs generously volunteered their time to help clean-up the grounds at Downside Up. Goldman Sachs helped by painting, gardening and the cleaning the outside of the building. In six hours the territory looked beautiful! Flowers were planted, windows were shining, storage house was freshly painted, and our little gazebo was rebuilt. We hope those who came from Goldman Sachs, benefited as much as we did from that day! We hope you found the work of DSU interesting and walked away with feeling positive about the potential of children with Down syndrome. |
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| Extra Mile - Second Year of Success |
In July, Deloitte organised the Extra Mile event, which proved to be a great success for its second year! 30 teams competed non-stop by cycling for 8 hours, running, and swimming. We sincerely thank the members of The DSU team for taking part! Deloitte did a fatastic job running such a successful event, which helped raise 25 000 USD. All of the proceeds raised will benefit Downside Up programmes. We sincerely thank Extra Mile organisers and all the donors for their continuing support! We are always ready to pick up another athletic challenge ;) |
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| Charity Red Square Bike Ride 2007 |
The 12th annual charity Red Square Bike Ride finished at Vasilievsky spusk on the 26th of August. This bike ride traditionally takes place in Moscow region during the last week in August. Over the course of two days, participants cycled 160 kilometres, 128 participants took part, and a record breaking 21 teams competed for the DSU Cup. It was the third bike ride in which Andrey Vostrikov, a 20-years-old young man with Down syndrome took part along with fellow corporate and individual particiants. Florence Garret, a 14-years-old girl with Down Syndrome, took part as well. DSU history began with the birth of this young lady. This fundraising bike ride event became the largest and most successful in DSU history! It was covered by 6 TV channels and 25 printed word media reports, internet and radio stations. 1st channel covered our event for 4 minutes at the prime time slot on Sunday evening! We managed to raise over 5 million rubles to help hundreds of Russian children with Down Syndrome. We are delighted to announce that this fundraising event raised over 5 million rubles! We are thankful to all our loyal participants for their support. Hope to see you next year! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!!!
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| “Russian Challenge” Charity Ski Race |
Our annual “Russian Challenge” Ski Race will take place in February 2008. For those of you familiar with this fundraising event, we are making some exciting changes to the original format of this event! Expect even more of a challenge this year- you will not be disappointed! Be sure to look on our website in December on www.downsideup.org for more information. This ski event is part of Downside Up’s charity sports scheme. If your company believes in doing good by doing sports, be sure to sign up! Photos of the Ski Race 2007 can be found here |
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| New Project |
New public awareness project of DSU - Photocalendar 2008 "They are just people, only with Down syndrome". Prominent photographer Vladimir Mishukov, children and adults with Down syndrome along with well-known Russian actors, TV journalists, sportsmen and other prominent people will take part in the project. We invite companies to sponsor this publication. Please see the presentation here. Deadline for pledges - 15th October. |
| Job offers at DSU |
DSU fundraising department has two vacancies. Fundraising manager responsible for individual donors - successful candidate should speak Russian and English, have good communication skills, be able to make presentations and be a strong user of the computer and data bases. Marketing and sales experience is a plus. Marketing manager should have great writing skills, be able to meet deadlines, be creative and have experience in preparing marketing materials. We are looking for dynamic, energetic people who care and want to make a difference. Please send us a resume at downsideup@downsideup.org or by fax +7 (495) 367-2636 |