My name is Laura. I’m 23 years old, I live in Cardiff and I have Down’s Syndrome. Two days a week, I attend an actor training programme with Hijinx. Hijinx are a theatre company who work across Wales with learning disabled actors, training us at regional hubs in Cardiff, Carmarthen, Aberystwyth and Prestatyn. Thanks to Hijinx, I am a professional actor. I have been offered an amazing opportunity to go to Lesotho in Africa for two weeks in February 2018. While there, I will be working with communities of young people both with and without learning disabilities.

In countries like Lesotho, people like me are completely cut off from society and are rarely seen out in public. Children who have a learning disability are abandoned by their families, and left to grow up in orphanages with little experience of the world outside. I want to challenge people’s ideas of what people with learning disabilities can do, and raise the aspirations of young learning disabled people EVERYWHERE.

I need to raise £1,200 by 31st January. Contributions will go towards my travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the project. Can you help me?