Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association

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Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association

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Rachael Ross MBE –Chair & Fundraising Dir. Portsmouth DSA is proud to have royal approval. We are based at Aspen House in Portsmouth.

We are an award-winning registered charity no. 1147355, providing advice and a range of specialist services for young people, families & professionals. Royal Approval
Portsmouth DSA is proud to have been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen with the Queen’s Award in recognition of 'outstanding service to our community'. We received a Special Covid recognition Award to recognise our work during the pandemic, and we are proud to have been granted Freedom of the City of Portsmouth. Portsmouth DSA is committed to improving the lives of children with Down syndrome across Hampshire and beyond and we work hard to raise awareness, champion inclusion, and celebrate diversity in all areas. We know our children can succeed when given the opportunity, and with the right support, and we believe they deserve the same opportunities and right to experience success as their peers. Portsmouth DSA is largely managed by professional full and part-time volunteers and provides a range of some of the best specialist services in the UK supporting development and education, and offers training to assist families and professionals in providing effective support from the point of diagnosis, helping to teach children the skills they need to reach their developmental milestones, succeed at school, and become valued and productive members of their communities. Our services are the only fully comprehensive and progressive services in the UK supporting the child’s education and development from diagnosis through to young adulthood with training to assist families and professionals in providing direct and effective support to improve outcomes. When children with Down syndrome are given opportunities to participate and be fully included, the whole community benefits. Please contact us if you would like to find out more about what we do, or if you would like to come along to meet us.

23/10/2026

🎃👻 THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT… WHAT A HOWLINGLY GOOD HALLOWEEN PARTY! 👻🎃🕷️🦇

The Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association Annual Halloween Party was spooktacular fun this evening! From ghoulish grooves to fang-tastic fun, we had a frightfully fabulous time celebrating Halloween together!

🧡🖤🎶 The Halloween disco was in full swing, with some AMAZING dancing moves, plenty of monster mashing and everyone getting into the spooky spirit! 💃🕺 👻 and we were delighted to welcome our wonderful buddies from King Edward VI School Southampton too.

🍽️ After all that dancing, everyone enjoyed a delicious hot meal, just what we needed to refuel before more Halloween fun!🧡 A huge thank you to Sarah from Ribbon and Air for donating the fantastic balloon decorations once again – they were fab! Thanks to the Spicer family for our Spooky backdrops, DJ Wes, Liz, Solent Hotel and everyone who helped make our annual Halloween party such a frighteningly fantastic success!🎃 👻🦇 🧡🎃👻 fans

22/10/2026

It was wonderful to see everyone at our coffee morning today as we celebrated an epic Great South Run weekend and welcomed some new faces too! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️
A HUGE thank you to the fabulous PortchesterPétanqueClub for their incredible fundraising efforts, raising an amazing £2,036.74 for PDSA! 🎉👏 What a fantastic amount! We’re so grateful to all their members for their continued support. As always, a big shout-out to our amazing Zurich for running the kitchen and keeping everyone refreshed with plenty of tea, coffee and smiles! ☕ We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive community around us. Thank you to everyone who joined us, donated, ran, volunteered or supported us in any way. You’re all amazing! 🙌 fans

21/10/2026

🏔️ MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - EVEREST BASE CAMP 2026! 🏔️🎉After climbing Kilimanjaro in 2009, Chris Douglas finally tackled a lifelong dream at 60 – trekking to Everest Base Camp at an incredible 5,364 metres! Six months of training, careful planning and a challenging Himalayan trek, with the support of his guide, Bhim. 💪But this challenge had an even more special purpose. Chris took on Everest in honour of his son, Kai, and to raise money for Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association, a charity that means so much to their family. Chris said, “PDSA has helped Kai learn, grow and make wonderful memories, while bringing them together with an amazing community.” Congratulations Chris on an incredible physical achievement - and thank you for raising £1,287.50 to support our work! And a huge thank you to everyone who donated and helped make this possible. fans

18/10/2026

🥇What a fantastic weekend it has been! 🥇

⭐There have been so many amazing moments, that we just had to share even more highlights from today, and would love to see your photos - add them in the comments below! 📸

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️Our turned Great South Run Portsmouth into a sea of green! Thank you again to our amazing runners, cheer teams, volunteers and photographers. Go Green Army! 💚

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18/10/2026

💚Huge Congratulations to our wonderful ! We have had the most incredible turn out at South Run today.

⭐Our 120+ super star runners were encouraged by our brilliant cheer teams the whole way round the 10 miles! It truly was a sea of green, and it was amazing to see so many of our runners and supporters enjoying themselves!

🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️A huge well done to everyone who ran, cheered, and volunteered. What a fantastic achievement, and a huge thank you for the dedication and commitment in raising brilliant funds and awareness of Portsmouth DSA. Every penny will make a positive difference for the families we support.

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17/10/2026

📣💚 THE BIGGEST SHOUT-OUT THIS WEEKEND GOES TO OUR AMAZING YOUNG PEOPLE! 🏅Our young runners were absolute stars at the Great South Run weekend, showing just what they’re capable of achieving! 🌟 We start them young, and with our youngest runners just 3 and 4 years old, we couldn’t be prouder of every single one of them! 💚👏A huge thank you to our community supporters, Judith and Liam at Great Run, and our wonderful friends at RRT, Jazz Apples, Good4U and Piccolo for generously donating water and snacks to keep our team fuelled and hydrated. 🍎💧And to all the friends, families and supporters who came along to cheer us on -thank you! Your smiles, cheers and encouragement mean the world to our runners. 💚🙌What a brilliant day filled with determination, achievement and community spirit, AND we can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow! 🎉GO PDSA! 💚🐾 fans

17/10/2026

💚🏅 120+ RUNNERS. 300+ SUPPORTERS. ONE AMAZING ! 🏅💚 What a fantastic morning at the Great South 5K! 🎉 A HUGE well done to all our incredible runners, including our amazing young people, who absolutely smashed it! Our fastest runner completed the course in a sleek 20 minutes! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️💚A special shout-out to our older members who held the finishing ribbons at the Mascot Run! 👏 And it was great to team up with our buddies from SE Hants Special Olympics once again this year! We’re so proud of you all, especially those familiar faces who return year after year, pushing their limits and achieving new goals. You’ve earned those medals! 🏅A massive THANK YOU to our wonderful volunteers for making the weekend possible and supporting our fantastic runners. We couldn’t do it without you! 💚 You’ve done us proud, ! 💚🙌 fans

16/10/2026

💚🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ Please join us in wishing our of over 280 runners across both days of the South Run weekend the very best of luck! 🍀💚Our fabulous team includes many of our amazing children and young people, alongside our fantastic community supporters, all limbering up and ready to race around the courses in their wonderful green vests! 💚👕🏅📣 Our dedicated support teams can’t wait to meet you all and cheer you round the courses! 🎉👏 Please visit our marquee in the Charity Village on Castle Field on the day of your event, where our fantastic volunteers will be ready to welcome and thank you. 💚⛺🙌✨ Remember - this is your Victory Lap! 🏅🏆 You’ve earned it through all your hard work, training and fundraising, so enjoy every single second! 🥳💪💚☀️ Wishing you all a wonderful time and may the sun shine on every one of you! 🌞🍀💚 💚 🏃 ⛺ 💚 🏅 fans

10/10/2026

🏃‍♂️Put your best foot forward and give us a smile! This time next week – it’ll be the big day! It’s not too late to join our and run, jog, walk or fly around the 10 mile, 5km, Mini and Junior courses. We can offer free places in all runs (mini, junior, 5k and 10m) in return for sponsorship. With last minute cancellations and spaces still to allocate, you can join the biggest and friendliest team by completing this link to register for a Great South Run place https://forms.gle/iRKwwzH5e1andKLp7
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03/10/2026

TWO WEEKS TO GO… AND THERE’S STILL TIME TO JOIN TEAM PORTSMOUTH DSA! 🏃‍♂️ Ready to do something amazing? Come and be part of Portsmouth DSA’s Great South Run Team! We’re promising a weekend packed with fun, fitness, friendship and plenty of smiles - and you could be right there in the middle of it!
🎉 The best bit? We still have places available across all our events:
🏃 10 Mile Great South Run
🏃‍♀️ 5K
👟 Junior Run
🌟 Mini Run
And your place is FREE! All we ask is that you help us raise sponsorship for Portsmouth DSA. So whether you’re a seasoned runner, taking on your first challenge, or looking for a fun day out with the family, we’d love you to join our team.👉 Sign up today: https://forms.gle/iRKwwzH5e1andKLp7
🙌 Want to be part of the weekend without running? We’d welcome some volunteer support too! Get in touch at [email protected] to find out how you can get involved.
Two weeks. One brilliant weekend. One amazing team.
Come and join the ! 💚

Address

Unit 1, Aspen House, Airport Service Road
Portsmouth
PO35RA

Website

http://www.portsmouthdsa.org/

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