It might have been snowing, but that didn't stop 27 SUNDOWNS families from visiting Chester Zoo for the day.

SUNDOWNS paid for the whole family to attend and provided £10.00 per family travelling costs and £5.00 per person towards lunch whilst they were there.

Our new look fundays continued on 29/06/08 when 3 musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic joined the families to work with the children.

Musicians playing an oboe, Tuba and Chello kept the children well entertained and there was the usual arts and crafts for those who felt creative!

Many thanks to Jen Gerritsen for organising another wonderful event

Over the last year it has become very apparant that some families, and indeed SUNDOWNS itself, may require legal advice when making decisions regarding their families future.

As a result of this SUNDOWNS contacted Sinclairs Solicitors in Birmingham, who specialise in supporting people with special educational needs. On 17/07/08 Maggie McCormack travelled to Wirral in order to deliver a general seminar to SUNDOWNS members. At the seminar Maggie stressed the importance of the statementing process and offered general advice as well as advice to individual families on problems they were experiencing. Maggie also advised on some aspects of Direct Payments.

SUNDOWNS is now in negotiations with Sinclairs in order to agree a "retainer fee" so that the charity is able to approach the company with any legal queries it has. 

Due to popular demand the SUNDOWNS Christmas Cards are back!

For a donation of just £4.00 you will receive 10 cards on good quality Card. The message inside reads "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

If you would like to purchase some cards please contact the SUNDOWNS office. All donations will go directly to supporting the work of the charity 

On 20/09/08 SUNDOWNS held its eighth annual Buddy Walk. The weather was beautiful and a record number of walkers joined us to complete the walk.

This year we were joined by Downs Syndrome @ Wirral to mark the very sad passing of family member Elaine Bailey, who had passed away a few weeks before. Elaine was a strong supporter of both charities and SUNDOWNS provided a pink carnation (Elaine's favourite colour) for every walker to wear in her memory and a book of condolance to be signed by anyone who wished to.

At the Grosvenor Ballroom SUNDOWNS presented cheques for £500.00 to CATS Club and Totally Tallented- both groups work with people who have Downs Syndrome. The children then let off steam with a disco.

A huge thanks to family members Heidi Suckley and Sophia Bridge for taking over the catering at short notice and to Melanie and Louise Florists for providing the floral tributes. Thanks also to Emma Macready, Team UK Basketball member, for opening the walk and for teaching the children some basketball skills.

Next years' Buddy Walk will have a total new look- so keep watching!  

Family and Committee members Mark and Sophia Bridge are this year holding their annual SUNDOWNS Ball on 06/12/08. This will be the first time the couple have chosen Christmas to hold this event and it has proved very popular with companies holding their Christmas Parties.

The evnt will take place at Pacific Road Theatre on 06/12/08 and ticket prices are £35.00 per head. For this you receive a champagne reception, hot sit down meal, a bottle of red and white wine per table, entertainment, auction, raffle and the chance to win a holiday.

All proceeds will be donated to SUNDOWNS. If you would like to purchase tickets, donate a prize or sponsor the event please contact the SUNDOWNS office.  

Between 18/04/08 and 21/04/08 SUNDOWNS took 25 of its families for a long respite break at Ribby Hall Village in Lancashire.

The charity paid for each family to have a lodge that slept 6 people, this meant that families were able to take an additional carer with them should they wish to. SUNDOWNS also provided £100.00 per family towards expenses.

Usually we provide this break in December but decided to pay extra to stay in April in the hope that the weather would be better. Needless to say it wasn't but that didn't stop us all having a great time.

On the Saturday night the majority of the families met at the children's disco and it was great to see all the children (and adults!) getting up for a dance.  

Hopefully our next trip to Ribby will be in December 2009

As a change from the mums Wine and Pizza Nights we decided to treat the mums to a meal out instead!

On 31/05/08 10 of us met at the Yiamis Greek Restaurant, Wirral for a meal, several bottles of wine and a good laugh!.

Keep your eye out for the next Mums Night Out

Due to its success and expansion SUNDOWNS has found it necessary to advertise for new Trustees.

The current Trustees decided that we needed extra expertise in areas such as IT, Finance, Law and Business skills in order to ensure that SUNDOWNS is as successful in the next 8 years as it has been in the last.

The Trustees advertised the availability of places in the local press and are holding interviews before Christmas. It hopes to be able to announce two new Trustees at the AGM on 20/01/09.

SUNDOWNS is run  purely by volunteers and has no paid workers. The Committee all work hard to keep the charity working and supporting all its members, but we all have families and the majority have a disabled child and job. This means we are always looking for new volunteers to help run our projects. If you have some time to spare(no matter how small) or a skill to offer please contact the SUNDOWNS office.

Following his very successful "Charity Race Night" Damian Harrison from Liverpool Crown Court has decided to aim higher by organising a Valentine's Ball to be held at the Liverpool Crowne Plaza on 14/02/09.

The price of the tickets is £55.00 per head, and what a bargain for such an impressive setting, champagne reception,sit down hot meal, entertainment, raffle and auction! This will surely make anyones Valentine's Night a day to remember!

Damian has lots of little surprises planned for the evening as well and the auction and raffle prizes will appeal to everyone with items such as a Pirates of the Carribean Flat Screen T.V, having been donated by Disney, and a day spent in the recording studios of Granada.

All proceeds raised will be split between SUNDOWNS and Cancer Research UK. If you would like to book any tickets please contact the SUNDOWNS Office.  

Everton Football Club player Leighton Baines has announced he is to support SUNDOWNS.

As well as providing a signed shirt Leighton will help SUNDOWNS by appearing at an event to promote awareness of the charity.

A huge thanks to Leighton and Graham Sharpe for supporting SUNDOWNS in this way

On 02/11/08 SUNDOWNS took 19 of its families to Knowsley Safari Park for the day.

SUNDOWNS paid for the enterance fee, £5.00 per person towards a meal and £10.00 per family for travelling costs.

This event has been part funded by the charity Daytrippers who have donated £650.00 towards the trip 

On 16/03/08 SUNDOWNS held its first new look Art/Fun Day at Woodchurch Leisure Centre, Wirral.

It was the busiest day that we can remember with over 25 families attending from Wirral and Liverpool. The Wirral Samba Band provided lots of noise and there was an opportunity for the children to produce their own Easter Cards.

As usual there was the Bouncy Castle and refreshments. Natwest Bank joined us to officially hand over the £10,000 donated to SUNDOWNS in the recent RBS/ Daily Mail Award.

A huge thank to new organiser of these events, Jen Gerritsen for all her hard work. The Next Fun Day will take place on 29/06/08 at Woodchurch Leisure Centre from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. This time  musicians from the Liverpool Philharmonic will be working with the children. To book a place please contact the office.

Mums Wine and Pizza Nights are held at different members houses and normally occur monthly.

This is a great chance for the mum's to get together and have a drink and a bight to eat. Although the nights aren't intended to be used to discuss the children, inevitably you pick up some good information and tips as the night progresses.

The best news is that SUNDOWNS picks up the bill so the nights are totally free!! The next night is booked for 15/03/08. For more information please contact the office  

On 18/01/08 SUNDOWNS invited its main supporters for 2007 to enjoy a meal at Sheldrakes Restaurant in Heswall.

50 guests, who included SUNDOWNS volunteers, fundraisers and corporate sponsors such as Merseyrail,Impressions Printers, Radio Merseyside and Barclays Bank all spent the evening enjoying fine food. The evening was sponsored by Sheldrakes Restaurant and SUNDOWNS would like to thank Helen and her staff for once again making this a special and enjoyable evening for everyone.  

SUNDOWNS is pleased to announce that family member Stevi Strachan won this years' Christmas Card competition.

The Christmas Card she designed was printed and sold at £4.00 for a pack of 10.

Congratulations Stevi!!

During November Sally Slater delivered two workshops for SUNDOWNS on the subject of Challenging Behaviour. These workshops had taken 12 months for SUNDOWNS to organise due to the fact that there are so few organisations or people that specialise in this topic.

The first day was a workshop for professionals and was attended mainly by teachers from Wirral schools. The second day was a family workshop and familis from Wirral, Liverpool and Wales attended.

Wirral Area Forum Funding granted £1500.00 towards this project, which allowed SUNDOWNS to heavily subsidise the event, making it acessible to as many people as possible.

Feedback from the event was extremely positive with professionals stating " All staff should have attended this event" and "excellent"

This October SUNDOWNS is paying for a family trip out for its members to Knowsley Safari Park.

As well as paying the entrance fee SUNDOWNS is also paying for each visitor to have lunch and is providing a contribution towards travelling costs.

The Christmas Art Day turned into a Christmas Party thanks to Give A Child A Chance who donated £500!! Children were treated to a Mini Christmas Circus with Baloon Modelling and a Disco.

Everyone enjoyed delicious refreshments.

A huge thanks to Give A Child A Chance.

Next Years Art Day's have been sponsored by Bebington Round Table who have donated £2,100.00 towards them so keep your eyes out for some new and exciting activities.

On 01/04/07 SUNDOWNS took many of its families to its Easter Trip to Chester Zoo.

Luckily the weather was again beautiful. SUNDOWNS paid for all enterance fees, £5.00 per person for lunch and £5.00 per family for travelling expenses. 

The seventh Annual Buddy Walk was opened by the Mayor of Wirral and was a huge success.

The event had lots of publicity before hand with a full page advert in the Wirral Globe and Lisa and Jane having a live interview on Radio Merseyside.

The Bethany Starlight Majorettes and Wirral Samba Band walked all the way with us, making sure that no one could miss us, and walkers from across the U.K joined us for the day.

Once at the venue there was lots for everyone to do. There was a disco, the usual refreshments and a display from the Bethany Starlight Majorettes. There was even a Christmas Card competition for the official SUNDOWNS Christmas Card.

SUNDOWNS made a presentation of £500 to Wirral Family Friends Youth Club and received a cheque from Leapfrog Nurseries.

All in all the best walk ever- but don't worry plans are already under way on the eigth walk and this will be better again!!

In December SUNDOWNS paid for 21 of its families to again visit Ribby Hall Village for a long weekend.

SUNDOWNS paid for a three bedroomed lodge for each of the families as well as providing £100 per family towards expenses.

As a new service this year SUNDOWNS also paid for two qualified child care providers to attend for the weekend. Families were able to book hourly slots of childcare to enable carers to spend time with other siblings.

20/05/07.

This years' Wirral Coastal Walk weather was a HUGE improvement on last years', which was inevitable as SUNDOWNS had purchased waterproof poncho's "just in case"!

The new idea of issuing T-shirts and Poncho's on the day worked out really well as walkers gathered at the distribution point to meet each other and have photo's taken.

Teresa did her usual fantastic spread at the Derby Pool, where this year we had a gazebo and even the SUNDOWNS kite was flying!

A huge thanks to everyone who supported SUNDOWNS at this event. As well as raising funds it's a great way for people of Wirral to learn more about the charity.

On 17/03/07 Dr Wendy Uttley, who has over 18 years experience as a teacher of mathematics and who has delivered Numicon training for the last three years, attended St Saviours Parish Centre to deliver a 2 day workshop on Numicon for SUNDOWNS.

42 delegates took part in the training who were parents and staff working with children from nursery to secondary age.

The day covered;

• How we learn to countand the difficulties that may be experienced.
• Introduction to Numicon Kits.
• Ideas and activities to reinforce learning the basics.
• Ideas to introduce time and money.

Feedback from the day was extremely positive.

This years' Spring Ball was the best ever, with the expected total of £11,000.00 being raised!

This was all thanks to the hard work of Mark and Sophia Bridge.

The event again took place at the Pacific Theatre in Birkenhead. For £30 a head guests received a hot and cold sit down buffet, red and white wine per table, a live band, the ever wonderful Military Quartet and Military Drummers.

This years Auction and Raffle was as impressive as ever with one item being sold for £1000!

As a new addition a mystery act took part. This was a belly dancer, who certainly got the evening off to an exciting start!

A huge thanks go to Mark and Sophia and to everyone who sponsored and supported the ball.

In 2008 the Bridges have decided to go for a different theme. The ball will be held in November and will have a Christmas feel

In August Granada Films contacted SUNDOWNS asking if we could help them in a new film drama they were producing.

In November a bus full of SUNDOWNS members went to Manchester where they helped to film an episode of "Mobile", a drama which will be broadcast on March 11th 2007.

As a thank you Granada Films donated £500 to SUNDOWNS, make sure you keep an eye out for our little stars!!  

As this has been the most successful year ever for SUNDOWNS, the Committee decided they would like to thank the people who had supported us throughout 2006.We decided to hold an Evening Reception at Sheldrakes Restaurant in Heswall.

We would have liked to invite every single person who had made a donation during 2006, however the numbers this would have involved would have made it an impossible task. Instead we invited our main sponsors and supporters- Merseyrail, The Spring Ball Supporters, Marc Smith, The Coast to Coast Cycle Riders, West Kirby Guides and many SUNDOWNS members who have donated their time to support the charity.

Everyone received a hot and cold buffet and were entertained by a pianist whilst they ate. Following the presentations and thanks yous a live band entertained guests.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended and also to the Staff at Sheldrakes for all their hard work and sponsorship. The evening was also sponsored by Impressions Printers of Oxton.

Parent member John Sheridan, who is currently arranging the the SUNDOWNS Football Match, has enlisted the support of the company he works for, SONAE UK.

Not only have the company supported him financially during sponsored events such as the Tough Guy Challenge, but they have now pledged support towards the cost of food at the SUNDOWNS Football Match.

The first Thursday morning in each month SUNDOWNS holds a support group meeting for families who have a child with Downs Syndrome under the age of 5. Members of the Committee attend these meetings bringing with them the SUNDOWNS reading and CD Rom resource library. It is a chance for parent /carers to relax and chat over a coffee.

At SUNDOWNS we recognise that having a brother or sister who has Downs Syndrome can sometimes bring a lot of pressure.

Often siblings recieve less attention from their parents due to the extra time needed to be spent on the child who has Downs Syndrome. Often siblings become carers too, supporting their families with the work created by having a disabled family member. Sometimes they have to deal with awkward questions from friends and peers who do not understand what Downs Syndrome is.

SUNDOWNS supports siblings by offering them their own Newsletter with competitions, information and an opportunity to contact each other. In this way we hope that siblings are able to build their own support network. They can share experiences and feelings with people who understand their situation, without worrying that they may upset other family members.

We also offer them their own social events with trips to places like bowling or laserquest, complete with meal. Sometimes parents are invited, sometimes it is simply the children with adult supervision. The only people not allowed to attend are people with Downs Syndrome. This is because this is the siblings opportunity to relax and socialise with friends and without distractions!

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for the sixth annual Buddy Walk. As ususal it was a great success attracting families from accross the country.

The weather was very kind, which meant that the stroll through Liscard was enjoyable and we again made quite an impact with the presence of the Samba Band.

Back at the Grosvenor Ballroom cheques for £500 were presented to the Wirral Toy and Resource Library and Wirral Parent Partnership. The Toy Library used their donation to buy a new bubble lamp for their quiet room. Parent Partnership bought reference books for their resource library.

Everyone enjoyed the children's disco and wonderful buffet. The date for the seventh walk will be announced in January.