A DANCE leader with Down’s Syndrome is taking her charity group to the world’s largest arts festival once again, and is looking to ensure it is ‘bigger and better’ than before.

DanceSyndrome, based in Accrington, will be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and have set up a JustGiving page with a £10,000 target to support their work.

The charity, founded by Jen Blackwell, who has Down’s Syndrome, performed at the festival for the first time in 2017.

The success of the trip gave the dancers a significant confidence boost and as a result, they now feel able to do an even bigger trip to the Fringe in August 2018.

Dance Leader Becky Rich said having Down’s syndrome does not define her.

She said: “We were very touched by the positive response that we received when handing out our flyers on the Royal Mile to promote our show.

“Also we had fantastic audiences on both days which made it really special for us as performers and we think we really connected with the audiences in a special way”.

“We all had a very special and fun time in Edinburgh.”

The charity provides inclusive dance workshops and leadership training for people with and without disabilities.

DanceSyndrome’s dancers also perform live at special events across the UK with the aim of inspiring people and demonstrating that people with disabilities can live a life of their choosing

The dancers will also be taking fundraising into their own hands to generate the money needed to fund the cost of the festival trip.

This includes funds for the rehearsal process, performance space, marketing, travel and accommodation for themselves and their carers.

DanceSyndrome managing director, Dawn Vickers, said “We have been overwhelmed by the success of our 2017 Fringe Festival performance and we are so proud of what our dancers have achieved.

“We are absolutely thrilled at the prospect of returning to Edinburgh in 2018 and we are really inspired by the ambition and determination of our dancers to raise the money to make this a reality.

“I really hope that local people and business will get behind their appeals and help them to follow their dreams.”

The festival was established in 1947 and last year spanned 25 days and featured 50,266 performances in 294 venues including theatre, comedy, dance, children’s shows, music and poetry.

To donate to support the trip online visit www.justgiving.com/dance-syndrome.