The Tooting three-year-old taking on a 300 mile challenge to fundraise for her own therapy

A three-year-old from Tooting is joining fourteen other determined children, aged from just two to nine years old, to take on an epic challenge this month to complete a 300-mile journey between them.

Lucy and the other children, all of whom have Down's Syndrome, will be walking, running, scooting, cycling and swimming, to cover the equivalent distance from Land's End to Peckham in south London, in a virtual challenge.

The Down's South London KIDS WALK 300 challenge is hoping to raise money for Down's South London (DSL), a small charity based in Peckham, to replace more than £50,000 of lost income that the charity has suffered this year due to the pandemic.

The service, offered free to families, is paid for by voluntary donations and through a range of fundraising initiatives by DSL's trustees, families, their friends and supporters.

All the children participating in the challenge are either current or former recipients of DSL's therapy services, which provide a unique package of early intervention speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational/sensory therapy, delivered by a team of highly skilled therapists with specialist knowledge of how young children with Down's Syndrome develop.

The children have already raised £25,000 which is half of their intended target.

Lucy's parents Ruth and Adam said: "We were lucky enough to meet the amazing team at DSL when Lucy was just 6 months old and they quickly became our trusted advisors.

"Their expertise combined with their dedication to and love for our children is incredible and we are so grateful for everything they have done for Lucy and our family."

This physical challenge is particularly demanding as children with Down's Syndrome typically have some level of hypotonia, or low muscle tone, which for many means it has taken longer to learn to walk than it would for a typically developing child.

The determined fundraisers are (in age order): Leila (9), Theodora (6), Tristan (5), Imany (5), Elijah (5), Beth (5), Emma (5), Eugene (5), Elliott (4), Orla (4), Zephy (3), Lucy (3), Ned (3), Mara (2) and Olive (2).

The challenge began on the 17th October, the group has been sharing their progress on Instagram (via @downssouthlondon).

Donations can be made via the team's Virgin Money Giving page.

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