The Charlton Upbeats are a football team for children with Down's Syndrome which was launched in 2009 after the club were successful in the London Tonight’s ‘People’s Millions’ competition.  They became just the third DSActive team. The Upbeats have since seen over 100 players come through their doors and have taken part in a number of fun events including matches against other DSActive teams, showcasing at the Danny Mardell Knockout Challenge, being coached by Boris Becker at the ATP World Tour finals and taking part in all three DSActive national festivals, winning two of them.

I have been lucky enough to watch these young people training and have seen them play and react with the crowd at The Valley.  I have witnessed the great enjoyment they get out of playing football each week.  In fact, I am in the picture above and I remember it as a very special moment - being on the pitch at the Valley with these great kids. 

The programme has become so successful that it now costs roughly £15,000 per year to run.  So this is a polite request to dig into your pockets and sponsor me a few pounds in support of my quest to walk 50K (just over 31 miles) from Putney to Runnymede on Saturday, 12 September with my friend Julie Livsey who will be walking for Breast Cancer Now. 

I am hoping that with all your support, the training, the pain and the blisters will all be worth it.

Thank you. 

Brenda

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.