Down's syndrome charity's cafe saved from closure

A Down's syndrome charity has said it can keep its cafe open after a successful fundraising drive.

Sunshine and Smiles in Leeds had been at risk of having to cut services and shut the cafe, which employs 10 young people with the condition.

A crowdfunding campaign generated £30,000 in donations and plugged the organisation's end-of-year deficit.

Service manager Ailith Harley-Roberts said: "The place that we are now in terms of feeling secure for this coming year is invaluable."

She added: "We had a really difficult year in terms of our grant applications not being as successful, and the cost of living impacting on people's capacity to donate."

The charity supports 180 families and offers speech and language therapy, sports and activity sessions, and a baby and toddler group. All of its services are provided free of charge.

Ms Harley-Roberts said: "The support that we offer is unique, we are the only service in Leeds that works with children and young people with Down's syndrome.

"There would be a huge gap left if we weren't able to provide."

Swimming lessons were one of the activities that could have been cut.

"Accessing things like swimming lessons is really difficult for children with Down's syndrome, so they need that tailored support.

"To not be able to run some of our services would be devastating for our families".

The cafe, 21 Co. in Headingley, was initially a six-month project but has been running for more than four years.

Ms Harley-Roberts said: "There's been such a wealth of support and love from the community around us.

"People have been coming to the charity with ideas on how they could raise money, asking to help set up a raffle and bakes sales."

The charity's team said they were now thinking about resilience and sustainability for their work going forward.

Ms Harley-Roberts added: "I don't think we could have anticipated how much people have rallied and got behind us."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.