Here at the Matthew Good Foundation, our members can support charities and good causes in a variety of different ways. And even though 2020 has been a strange year, we’re delighted that we’ve been able to continue supporting the causes our members care about.
One of these causes is Downright Special, and while we’ve supported this fantastic charity in previous years, 2020 is perhaps the year when they have needed support more than any other.
Downright Special is a charity in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire supporting children with Down syndrome. Managed by a small team of professionally trained volunteers and staff, the charity supports families and professionals in all aspects of the care and education of children with the condition.
Given the strange circumstances of 2020, Downright Special needed to find new ways to support children with Down syndrome when they couldn’t see them in person. They continued to do this by providing support and advice to families online and by telephone. They provided resources for the children to do at home and education sessions via Zoom, such as online singing and signing sessions. The charity also supported schools and nurseries to differentiate work for the children to do at home and also when they returned to school.
We’re delighted that this year, we’ve been able to support Downright Special via three different application types.
First, back in May, Downright Special was nominated to receive a Championing Grant of £500. Then in September, one of our employees won the monthly draw, which gives our employees £250 to donate to the charity of their choice – they chose Downright Special. Finally, our Donation Match Programme has seen us donate a further £600 to Downright Special by matching personal donations made by our employees.
John Good Group’s Deputy Chairman, John Rutherford, commented:
“Downright Special is an inspirational organisation that does great work in assisting children and young people with Down syndrome. It also supports parents of Down syndrome babies to reassure and advise them in the early days. Downright Special is very professionally managed with strong governance. It does excellent work in advising mainstream schools, and I’ve visited them to see them in action. It’s brilliant to be able to support them through the Matthew Good Foundation, especially at such an important time.”