Defeat Dementia in Down’s syndrome (DiDS) CIDDRG research group Open Day

Around 100 members of the public attended an Open Day on Sunday 20th March 2016 to hear about the results of our studies and the future directions in dementia in Down’s syndrome research. Some people with Down’s syndrome and their families travelled from as far as Surrey, Leicestershire, Warrington, Norfolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and London for the event. There was a great deal of interest in our work and it was good to see the engagement and interaction with our researchers.

The Down’s Syndrome Association talked to a steady stream of interested visitors throughout the afternoon. Their support with our ongoing research is crucial and we are grateful for their participation. Thank you to the catering students from Eddie’s, one of our collaborating organisations, for providing the delicious catering this year and the volunteers from ‘Artworks’ who gave their time on the day to run activities and help make the event so successful.

We received positive feedback, including this from one of our visitors with Down’s Syndrome who wrote –
“I most definitely enjoyed myself with many interests”.

The event was captured on film, featuring interviews with people who attended talking about their experiences of taking part in research and we will feature it here when it is finished. In the meantime, here are some photographs of the day.