{"id":1074,"date":"2025-02-04T20:46:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T20:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sparkles.org.uk\/?page_id=1074"},"modified":"2025-02-14T12:45:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T12:45:24","slug":"trustees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trustees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kirsty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Hi, I am Kirsty; the current Chair of The Trustees.
My daughter Amelia-Rae was born in 2017 and we had a postnatal diagnosis. We joined Sparkles back in 2018, with Speech and Language therapy for Amelia-Rae.
It has been amazing to meet other families, who understand what we were going through and the Sparkles community is just amazing! I became Chair of the Committee team during covid times, and eventually moved on to be a trustee. I then became Chair of Trustees in 2024, and it has been amazing helping the Charity move forward!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Kate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Hi, I’m Kate and this is my daughter Lydia. My husband and I moved to Buckinghamshire just over 10 years ago for work. I am a horse-riding coach and generally enjoy being outside in the countryside with my horse or dogs as much as I can.
Lydia was born at the end of 2019 and was confirmed as having Down Syndrome postnatal, after having scanned small during pregnancy. We were fortunate to have a really supportive team of professionals around us from the start.
I joined Sparkles just before my daughter, Lydia turned 2, when we were struggling to access many NHS therapy services, mainly due to continued Covid restrictions. We started our sessions when life started getting back to some sort of normal. Sparkles has been a huge support for us and Lydia has made such an impact in our lives, not just the high quality, specialised therapy, which is amazing, but also a local network of families all in the same position, who quickly became friends.
Lydia is about to start school this September and the Therapists and Sparkles EHCP support has made a daunting, challenging time a lot less stressful!
I joined the committee as Secretary in January 2023 and then became Chair in October that year, then also became a Trustee in April 2024. It has felt important to me to give back to the charity which has given us so much and help as much as I can to make Sparkles more accessible and available to all pre school children with Down Syndrome in Buckinghamshire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Graham<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Graham is our longest standing Trustee.
\nJoel was born May 2014, and I think we joined Sparkles fairly soon. I was Treasurer for the year April 2015 – May 2016, and became a Trustee in January 2016.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Bushra<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

As a trustee for Sparkles, I focus on fundraising and securing grants to support children with Down syndrome. Sparkles has been a vital part of my family\u2019s journey, providing not just services but also a community of supportive families who truly understand the unique joys and challenges we face. As the parent of a three-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, I am passionate about giving back to this incredible organisation that has meant so much to us and helping other families access the support they need to thrive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Eszter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

I became treasurer in 2020, overseeing financial operations at Sparkles. With my previous financial work experience, I have been a trustee treasurer since 2024 and handle financial reporting.\nOriginally from Hungary, my two children were born in the UK. After my son Aron was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Sparkles provided valuable assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by a desire to give back to this incredible charity, I volunteered my time since 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kirsty Hi, I am Kirsty; the current Chair of The Trustees. My daughter Amelia-Rae was born in 2017 and we had a postnatal diagnosis. We joined Sparkles back in 2018, with Speech and Language therapy for Amelia-Rae. It has been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":43,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1074","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trustees - Sparkles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Trustees - Sparkles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kirsty Hi, I am Kirsty; the current Chair of The Trustees. My daughter Amelia-Rae was born in 2017 and we had a postnatal diagnosis. We joined Sparkles back in 2018, with Speech and Language therapy for Amelia-Rae. It has been\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sparkles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-14T12:45:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/\",\"name\":\"The Trustees - Sparkles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-04T20:46:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-14T12:45:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":449},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"About us\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Trustees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Sparkles\",\"description\":\"Supporting Children with Down's syndrome\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sparkles\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cropped-Web-test-6Artboard-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cropped-Web-test-6Artboard-1.png\",\"width\":521,\"height\":179,\"caption\":\"Sparkles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Trustees - Sparkles","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Trustees - Sparkles","og_description":"Kirsty Hi, I am Kirsty; the current Chair of The Trustees. My daughter Amelia-Rae was born in 2017 and we had a postnatal diagnosis. We joined Sparkles back in 2018, with Speech and Language therapy for Amelia-Rae. It has been","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/","og_site_name":"Sparkles","article_modified_time":"2025-02-14T12:45:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":449,"url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/","name":"The Trustees - Sparkles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-04T20:46:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-14T12:45:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/T-Kirsty-011.jpg","width":300,"height":449},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/trustees\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"About us","item":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/about-us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Trustees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/","name":"Sparkles","description":"Supporting Children with Down's syndrome","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#organization","name":"Sparkles","url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cropped-Web-test-6Artboard-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/cropped-Web-test-6Artboard-1.png","width":521,"height":179,"caption":"Sparkles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1074"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1147,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1074\/revisions\/1147"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkles.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}