Hi everyone,
We appreciate it is a very strange and unsettling time at the moment and we hope you are at home, staying safe and hopefully staying well.
We recently shared information with you about our services and what’s happening at the moment with our groups and training (anyone who missed it, please click HERE to read). We are also sharing lots of information on our DS Achieve Facebook page and Community Chat group about DS-related health advice, online activity sessions for children with additional needs, and education resources. It’s a bit overwhelming out there with all the information being shared though, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us directly on info@dsachieve.org or by phone (Gillian on 07826 086511 or Michelle on 07979 926495) if we can help with something.
Separate from all the COVID-19 news though, we thought we would offer an interesting distraction and share some news about people changes within our charity...
There have been three recent changes we would like to update you on:
Kelly Harris, one of our founders, has decided to retire as a Trustee and continue as a volunteer. Kelly says “Due to a need to focus on increased work and family commitments, sadly I need to retire as a Trustee but am very much looking forward to continuing to give the charity my full support. It has been a real privilege to work with such a brilliant, dedicated team and I’m proud to have been able to contribute to DS Achieve creating such a positive educational and training offering & community for our families over the last three years. There are really exciting plans in the pipeline as DS Achieve continues to grow from strength to strength, and our family will look forward to seeing you at future events.’
We’d like to thank Kelly for all her hard work and, while we are sad she is retiring from the Board, we’re pleased we will retain her huge wealth of experience, knowledge and advice as a volunteer.
Although we lose one Trustee, we are now delighted to confirm the addition of a new Trustee to our Board. Andrew Luck is the Head of IT and Systems Development at Oaklands College and, after recently deciding to do more to support local communities, he found DS Achieve. Andrew came along to a Young Achievers session recently, as well as a Trustees meeting, and was so encouraged by the obvious difference that DS Achieve makes to families, he felt he had to get involved! We are thrilled to have Andrew join Gillian, Rachel and Nicole, particularly as he brings new and complementary skills to our existing team.
Finally, we’re really excited to announce that another of our founders, Michelle Bolton, has successfully applied for the newly created role of Head of Operations, managing the day-to-day operations of our activities and programmes for DS Achieve.
This means Michelle will also need to step down as a Trustee, but will instead take the lead in delivering the strategy set by the Trustees and managing the charity operationally going forward. This appointment begins a new phase in our development and strengthens our ability to deliver more services for families. Michelle brings excellent senior managerial expertise to this role which, when coupled with her considerable contribution to date (particularly to creating and running Little Achievers, Young Achievers and our training events) and her invaluable experience as a parent, makes her the perfect person to lead the charity operationally as we move forward.
We hope you keep well and stay safe, and we look forward to seeing everyone when things return to normality!
Gillian
Chair of Trustees
DS Achieve