Life certainly throws up many challenges for us all at some point in our lives. Some of which are expected, most of them are not and its often not how you envisioned your life to be.

How we deal with these challenges ultimately defines who we are and what we may become. 


A Shining Light…

Just over a year ago, born into this world, and a blank canvas like all new babies, blissfully unaware of who he was, who he will become and what his future would be hold, Charlie Jake Dolman touched the hearts of everyone. 

From the outset he met instant struggles for survival, but his own instincts and inner strength, coupled with the doctor’s expertise ensured that Charlie showed us he was very much here to stay and light up people’s lives, especially his parents, Lucie and Craig.

Undetected during pregnancy, but shortly after his birth, Charlie was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.  He will forever face many challenges that we as individuals may take for granted, possibly physically and some developmentally, but most of all Charlie will face many social challenges, with the biggest battle of all being Acceptance.  


What exactly is Down Syndrome ?  

For those that are not aware, Down Syndrome is a genetic condition that typically causes some levels of learning disabilities, and certain physical characteristic differences.  People who have Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) have an extra copy of chromosome 21.  In most cases, this isn’t inherited – it’s simply the result of a one–off generic change in the sperm of the egg. 


Awareness 

As his proud God-Father, I would like to try and raise awareness of Down Syndrome, particularly here on the Isle of Man.   The love and support shown to Charlie by family, friends and the wider community is something to be proud of and my hope is, that as a society we can develop, understand and change attitudes to be more accepting of people in general. 

Integration is what we strive for and acceptance within communities in the hope that society develops its attitudes and can be more accepting of people on the whole.

In raising further awareness of Down Syndrome and by changing people’s perception in general will hopefully make people appreciate the role they have to play in this world with the hope of helping them integrate into society in exactly the same way that mainstream children do so during their childhood and into adulthood.


The Event

As a very last minute and impromptu decision, I have decided to run the 26.2 mile Barcelona Marathon on Sunday 10th March 2019. Proudly with my Godson Charlie as inspiration, I hope to show that no matter what life throw’s at you, you can achieve anything with the right support, hard work, mindset and dedication.

Running with me and supporting my run is none other than local superstar sportsman, Christian Varley. I'm honoured and in great company running alongside Christian, who competed in the 2018 Triathlon World Championships and was also a former U23 Great British Cyclist.  

I have set up this page with all donations going to Crossroads Care.

For the future events that will follow any donations will therefore be in aid of Downs Syndrome Isle of Man.


About the Charities

Crossroads Care’s nursery is the only fully inclusive nursery on the Isle of Man.  They believe in promoting an equal, inclusive community from birth onwards, and believe that each child’s uniqueness should be celebrated. Therefore, they run a nursery that operates on smaller staff to child ratios that can support children with complex care needs and provide them with a high-quality nursery experience, and in addition provide specific one to one support for the children.

Any funds raised would go towards an additional room in the nursery that is currently used for storage and meetings they will be able to:

Increase space in the nursery that will allow them to offer additional child places and allow the children to have more space for play and other activities.

Have space for one to one work for children with care needs and offer sensory play for them.

Downs Syndrome Isle of Man is a parent’s run group established over 30 years ago to provide support to families and people with Down Syndrome, therefore on any future events, the donations will be specifically used for various aspects of support families may require.


My Appeal 

Please help us to raise as much money as possible for Crossroads Care and help improve the lives of children like Charlie’s. 

Not only will it enrich their lives by enabling them to participate and to be welcomed into everyday activities but it will enrich our lives too by allowing us all to embrace diversity and change our perceptions along the way.

Thanks