We’re delighted to announce Sunshine & Smiles – Leeds Down Syndrome Network as the winner of Disability Service Provider of the Year at the My Local Awards 2026 Yorkshire.
This award celebrates organisations that create meaningful support, real opportunity and lasting community impact, and Sunshine & Smiles is a truly deserving winner. Through Sunshine & Smiles, 21 Co. and Café 21, the organisation offers inclusive support, employment and community spaces for people with Down syndrome and their families. It brings people together, builds confidence and creates opportunities to learn, work and belong.
What makes this recognition especially powerful is the way the organisation has grown from a small, family-led beginning into something that now supports more than 190 families across Leeds. This is a story of lived experience, determination and a vision built not around what people with Down syndrome cannot do, but around what becomes possible when the right support, belief and opportunity are in place.
Built by families, for families
Sunshine & Smiles began in 2011, when a small group of parents, each with a new baby with Down syndrome, realised there was no dedicated support network in Leeds. Rather than accept that gap, they decided to create the community they needed themselves.
What started as informal meet-ups in parks and conversations around a kitchen table has grown into a registered charity with a deep and lasting impact across the city. Today, Sunshine & Smiles offers social and recreational groups, family support, speech and language therapy, early development and education support, and meaningful paid work opportunities for people with Down syndrome.
That origin story matters because it still shapes everything the organisation does. Sunshine & Smiles was created by families who understood first-hand the challenges, emotions and uncertainty that can come with raising a child with Down syndrome in a system that often feels fragmented or difficult to navigate. That lived experience gives the charity its warmth, its insight and its very strong sense of purpose.
What makes Sunshine & Smiles unique
Sunshine & Smiles remains the only specific support network in Leeds dedicated to Down syndrome, and that alone makes it incredibly valuable. But what truly sets it apart is the breadth of what it offers and the way everything connects together.
This is not simply a support service or a set of isolated projects. It is a whole-life approach that begins with early development and education support, continues through social groups and therapy, and extends all the way into meaningful paid employment through 21 Co. and Café 21. That combination of connection, expertise and opportunity is rare not just locally, but nationally too.
The result is something deeply special. Families do not just receive advice or access to activities. They find a place where they feel understood, welcomed and included. Children and young people with Down syndrome are supported to grow, learn and thrive in an environment built around their strengths and needs. And the wider community gets to see inclusive employment and belonging in action every day.
A milestone that changed everything
One of the defining milestones in the Sunshine & Smiles journey came in 2019, with the opening of 21 Co.. This was a huge step because it transformed the organisation from a support network into a fully-fledged inclusive employment provider.
21 Co. created a real workplace where young people with Down syndrome could develop skills, gain confidence, earn a wage and be visible within their community in a way that had not existed in Leeds before. That mattered enormously. It took the charity’s values and made them something you could physically walk into: a vibrant, welcoming space where supported employees, families, volunteers and customers could all come together.
That milestone laid the foundations for everything that followed, including the growth of Café 21 and the organisation’s long-term hopes to further develop its social enterprise model. It also sent a clear message that inclusive employment is not just possible. It is powerful, valuable and transformative.
One especially proud moment along the way was the journey to opening the pop-up Café 21 for World Down Syndrome Day in 2018. After months of training and preparation, team members with Down syndrome welcomed customers for the first time, showing exactly what can happen when people are given the right support and believed in fully. It was a moment that proved not only to the organisation, but to families and the wider public, that young people with Down syndrome can absolutely shine in roles that recognise and value their potential.
Standing beside families when it matters most
One of the most important parts of Sunshine & Smiles’ work is the way it supports families through moments that can feel overwhelming and isolating. The organisation understands that challenges around education, health and services can often become exhausting for parents and carers, especially when trying to access the right support for a child.
One story shared by the charity captures this perfectly. A family came to them when their little boy was struggling in school and missing out on the support he needed. They felt overwhelmed by assessments, paperwork and meetings, and were unsure how to even begin asking for an Education, Health and Care Plan. Sunshine & Smiles walked alongside them through the whole process, helping them gather evidence, understand their rights and prepare for meetings. When the EHCP was finally agreed, the child began receiving the specialist support he needed.
Another family came for help with an application for Disability Living Allowance, unsure if they would even qualify. Together, they worked through the forms and clearly described their child’s needs. When the application was approved, it did more than bring financial support. It reduced daily stress and helped the child access activities in the local community. For that family, it became a lifeline.
Stories like these show that Sunshine & Smiles is not only creating joyful, inclusive spaces. It is also doing the quieter, often unseen work of advocacy, guidance and reassurance that can change daily life for families.
Rooted in Leeds and woven into community life
Sunshine & Smiles, 21 Co. and Café 21 are deeply rooted in the local area. They are not just services people visit occasionally. They are woven into the everyday rhythm of Leeds neighbourhoods and community life.
That local connection is one of the organisation’s greatest strengths. Families stop by, regular customers pop in for coffee, people chat with supported employees, and over time these cafés and community spaces have become familiar, ordinary parts of the high street. That is exactly what inclusion should look like. Not something unusual or separate, but simply part of daily life.
The organisation’s community impact goes even further. By creating welcoming spaces, providing specialist support, reducing isolation and offering opportunities that did not previously exist, Sunshine & Smiles helps make Leeds a more understanding, compassionate and inclusive city for everyone. It challenges outdated assumptions about disability not through slogans, but through visible, everyday experience.
Rising to challenges with resilience
Like many charities, Sunshine & Smiles has had to navigate serious challenges, especially around funding. In 2024, the organisation faced a £30,000 shortfall that could have threatened core services. Instead, the community rallied behind a proactive crowdfunder, helping close the gap and ensuring the year ended without a deficit.
That achievement says so much about the strength of the organisation and the loyalty it inspires. It also reflects the reality that Sunshine & Smiles has built something people genuinely believe in and want to protect.
Finding the right spaces for activities, cafés and community groups has also been an ongoing challenge, with accessibility, affordability and location all playing a huge role. Yet throughout all of this, the organisation has remained rooted in its mission and committed to keeping the needs of people with Down syndrome and their families at the centre of every decision.
What this award means
Winning Disability Service Provider of the Year was a moment of real pride for Sunshine & Smiles because it came from the community it serves every single day. The organisation was delighted to be recognised among so many worthy causes, especially knowing how much brilliant work is happening across Leeds.
For supported employees with Down syndrome, the award is especially meaningful. It is public recognition that their work is not just appreciated, but celebrated. It boosts confidence, strengthens belonging and sends a powerful message that inclusive employment is not only possible, but exceptional.
For staff, volunteers and trustees, this award is also a reminder that the long hours, advocacy, problem-solving and commitment to doing things properly are making a real difference. It validates a model built on kindness, high expectations and deep community connection.
Looking ahead, Sunshine & Smiles is working towards finding a long-term home for the charity, one welcoming space that can bring activities, support and community together under one roof. It is a hopeful and exciting next chapter for an organisation that has already achieved so much.
Congratulations to Sunshine & Smiles
At My Local Awards 2026 Yorkshire, we are proud to celebrate organisations that change lives, strengthen communities and open up opportunities where they did not previously exist. Sunshine & Smiles – Leeds Down Syndrome Network is a brilliant example of that.
From its beginnings around a kitchen table to its role today supporting hundreds of families and creating inclusive employment through 21 Co. and Café 21, this is an organisation with heart, vision and real impact. Its win reflects the trust placed in it by families, the support of the wider community and the extraordinary work of everyone who helps make it what it is.
Congratulations to Sunshine & Smiles – Leeds Down Syndrome Network, a highly deserving winner of Disability Service Provider of the Year 2026.
And finally, a message from the team: “Thank you for being part of our community. Your support, your kindness and your belief in what we’re trying to build mean the world to us.”
