Sadly, our annual Riding for UpsnDowns cannot go ahead as planned this year due to Coronavirus. This is usually one of our biggest fundraisers of the year and particularly important for our charity.

This year, we have had to adapt our annual cycling sportif so that it can still go ahead.

As the UK went into lockdown in March, all UpsnDowns trustees met to discuss how they could provide support to all the member families throughout Northamptonshire, many who are shielding children that are clinically extremely vulnerable and in isolation because of underlying medical conditions.

We recognised early on in lockdown that many UpsnDowns families would struggle to get online delivery slots or get out of the house safely to do their grocery shopping.

In April, the trustees agreed that all families would be offered a funded fresh produce box each week.

For the last 8 weeks we have used local supplier Collins Fresh (based in Northampton) to deliver weekly boxes to UpsnDowns families across the county. The boxes contain fresh fruit and vegetables, plus other essentials such as bread and milk.

Collins Fresh have been fantastic, and we are incredibly grateful that they waived their delivery charge for all the UpsnDowns boxes.

The fresh produce deliveries have been funded by UpsnDowns and with the help of a £3000 grant awarded to us from the National Emergencies Trust Coronavirus Appeal Programme, through the Northamptonshire Community Foundation.  

We decided last week to continue delivering fresh produce for an additional 4 weeks.

Fiona Drinkell, mum to Christian (age 9) said, “When UpsnDowns contacted us to ask if we would like a fresh produce box delivered to our house every week, it was a godsend. It has helped more than they could ever imagine and has made sure we got plenty of healthy foodstuffs to keep us all on top form, we would have really struggled without it. We have no family close by to help so have been isolated on our own for nearly 10 weeks now.”

All our member families have been so grateful for the support provided by UpsnDowns, and as a charity, we are eternally grateful to our amazing supporters and fundraisers. You have enabled us to provide much needed support to our families during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Members have been keen to share recipes and photos from their fresh produce boxes. We would love to take this opportunity to share with you a quick and easy recipe for blueberry pancakes. Enjoy!

American Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 300ml milk
• knob butter
• 150g pack blueberry
• sunflower oil or a little butter for cooking
• golden or maple syrup

Instructions

• Mix 200g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
• Beat 1 egg with 300ml milk, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and whisk in the milk to make a thick smooth batter.
• Beat in a knob of melted butter, and gently stir in half of the 150g pack of blueberries.
• Heat a teaspoon of sunflower oil or small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan.
• Drop a large tablespoonful of the batter per pancake into the pan to make pancakes about 7.5cm across. Make three or four pancakes at a time.
• Cook for about 3 minutes over a medium heat until small bubbles appear on the surface of each pancake, then turn and cook another 2-3 minutes until golden.
• Cover with kitchen paper to keep warm while you use up the rest of the batter.
• Serve with golden or maple syrup and the rest of the blueberries.

On 23rd March 2020, Boris Johnson announced the UK was going into an immediate ‘lockdown’ in an unprecedented step to limit the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). He announced that as a nation, we would only be able to leave our homes for the following reasons:
• Shopping for basic necessities
• One form of exercise a day - either alone or with members of your household
• Medical need or to provide care help vulnerable person
• Travel to work - but only if necessary and you cannot work from home

In addition to this, many of our members fall into a ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ category. Some have pre-existing respiratory conditions, heart defects, immunodeficiency, and other complex conditions, and therefore have received government letters asking them to ‘shield’ at home, until the end of July. This situation is being regularly monitored. It has been, without a doubt, an incredibly tough and challenging time for everyone, but especially our members who are medically most vulnerable.

All parents are having to combine parenting roles alongside daily home learning. It is down to the parents now to provide a home routine that combines new learning, new skills, creativity and fun. At the same time, many parents are working remotely from home and caring for siblings. It is full on!

During this time, we have been keeping in regular contact with all our UpsnDowns families. In this time of additional financial and emotional strain, we have been supporting each other through a rota of weekly well-being phone calls. As a charity, we have provided funding for each family to purchase £100 worth of educational resources from DSE (Down’s Syndrome Education International) or alternatively other sensory tools, games and learning kits. We have been funding the delivery of weekly fresh produce boxes to our Northamptonshire families, from local business Collins Produce. The feedback from our families has been wonderful.

During Lockdown, our SALT new programme has been suspended so we have run several online sessions for families to meet our new SALT therapists Melissa and Hayley. Over the coming weeks, they will be delivering further online therapy and training sessions to help to support our members.

We have loved seeing all the wonderful photos and videos from our families, sharing what they have been getting up to, at home, in the garden and out on their daily exercise. The support for each other has been amazing.
Whatever the ‘new normal’ is that we face once lockdown is lifted, we will be able to face it together. Together, we are stronger.

UpsnDowns Northamptonshire are celebrating, having been selected as a 'Co-Op Cause', part of the Co-op Local Community Fund scheme 2019/2020.

What does this mean?

For existing Co-op Members. We are asking all our wonderful supporters who are already Co-op members to select UpsnDowns as their chosen cause. You don't have to be local to Northamptonshire, you can be anywhere in the UK to support us. Just register online and choose UpsnDowns.

Please help us spread the word to as many people as you possibly can. Ask friends, family, schools and work colleagues to support our charity and please share on social media networks. Follow the link below to choose our charity as your cause.
Click here to choose UpsnDowns…

If you are not a Co-op member already, you are welcome to join in order to select UpsnDowns. It costs £1 to become a Co-op member.
A membership will mean you receive 5% reward on your purchases, with 1% directly benefiting your chosen Co-op cause, plus other Co-op benefits.
Follow the link below to find out more and how to become a member.
Click here to join and support UpsnDowns…

How will UpsnDowns benefit?

UpsnDowns will receive 1% spent (on Co-op products) by members who have chosen UpsnDowns up until October 2020. This includes purchases on food, funeral and legal services, anywhere in the UK.

We will be able to spend the funds raised, towards our fundraising efforts and supporting the fully funded services we deliver for our members and children such as one-to-one swimming lessons, communication therapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, ‘sing and sign’, educational training, and horse riding.

Our charity is run on a completely voluntary basis by a board of willing trustees, the charity’s income is wholly dependent on fundraising. Individuals, companies and our own special events have all contributed to continued growth, so being selected for this Co-op scheme is fantastic news for UpsnDowns!

Please share with your friends and family so we can get supporters far and wide to nominate UpsnDowns. The scheme ends in October 2020.

Find our Co-op page here... https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/35565