Further to Government announcements, asking us all to stay at home and to avoid all unnecessary contact with others, and with schools closing as of today, 23rd March, we would like to provide the following update on our services. The health of our service users, employees, volunteers and trustees is paramount and so we are sure you will agree that the decisions we have made are sensible in the current climate.
LITTLE ACHIEVERS
As the families involved in our classes are aware, unfortunately the Little Achievers classes and Stay and Play are suspended for the time-being. Since we made this decision, Hatfield Council have also announced the temporary closure of Howe Dell Hall, the Little Achievers venue.
All those who have booked classes during the remainder of this term have been offered an alternative online or telephone 1:1 service by our specialist teacher, Sandra Redman, alongside some resources prepared by Sandra. Depending on each child’s preference and ability, this is either direct work with the child or a session with their parent(s) to go through the resources and understand how to use them. Anyone who would like to opt for a refund instead should please contact us on info@dsachieve.org and we will process this asap.
For those who have booked a place for the summer term, we will keep this under review and contact you to give further advice on whether this will proceed in advance of the start date.
YOUNG ACHIEVERS
Our next Young Achievers event was scheduled to be at The Little Gym, Harpenden, on Sunday 29th March. Unfortunately we have postponed this event due to COVID-19 announcements and we are hoping to rearrange the session for later in the year. In the meantime, we have refunded all tickets and we will keep you updated when a new date is agreed so that you are able to rebook. You do not need to contact us to arrange a refund - we have processed this and you will see the money return via the original method of payment shortly.
For our future events, we are carefully monitoring all new developments regarding the COVID-19 virus and will update you all in advance of future dates. As a reminder, the remaining dates for this academic year are: 17th May, 14th June and 19th July.
Creative Arts Therapy (CAT) Group
We have also needed to cancel the Creative Arts Therapy Group planned for the Summer term. We are aiming to run this in the Autumn term instead. All those who have booked a place will receive a refund shortly (you do not need to contact us to arrange this) and we will communicate updated information on a new set of dates as soon as we can.
TRAINING
With regret, we have needed to cancel our training day with Symbol on 1st April 2020. We are looking to rebook a date with Symbol for later this year and will confirm the new date as soon as possible.
In the meantime, we have refunded all tickets purchased for 1st April and, due to high demand for this training course, we will notify those people with a place currently booked FIRST of a new training date so they have priority booking. You do not need to contact us to arrange a refund - we have processed this and you will see the money return via the original method of payment shortly.
We apologise for any inconvenience this causes, but we look forward to welcoming you to the training session later in the year.
EMPOWERMENT GROUP
Our next event, a Spa Experience, is scheduled to take place on 21st May 2020. With this in mind, we will continue to carefully monitor developments with the COVID-19 virus and any updates from the Government, so that we are able to make an informed decision about this event nearer the time.
We apologise for any inconvenience these changes cause and we appreciate your understanding during this difficult time.
If you have any concerns or questions about any of the services detailed above, please contact DS Achieve:
Email: info@dsachieve.org
Tel: 07979 926495
Please take care of yourselves and your families, and we will look forward to seeing you at an event at some point (hopefully) soon
Best wishes,
The team at DS Achieve xx
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For the latest information please see:
https://www.gov.uk/…/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-res…
For DS specific up-to-date information and further resources/reading, please visit the Down’s Syndrome Association page:
https://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/…