Joining Forces for Inclusion: Learn and Thrive Partners with Down’s Syndrome Scotland

We’re so excited to share some fantastic news with you!

At Learn and Thrive, we’re always looking for ways to create inclusive and meaningful content for the Down’s syndrome and learning disability community across the UK. Today, we’re thrilled to announce a brand-new partnership with the amazing team at Down’s Syndrome Scotland (DSS).

What makes this partnership so special? Well, both of our organisations share the same passion for empowering the Down’s syndrome community—from busy inner cities to remote outer islands. Together, we’re launching a fresh new series under our Learning for Life project called ‘Respectful Relationships.’

For those who don’t know, DSS has been supporting individuals with Down’s syndrome and their families nationally across Scotland for over 40 years. Their mission is all about advocacy and education and supporting and empowering everyone in their community to reach their fullest potential by providing a range of all-through-life services, influencing public policy and by changing attitudes. Now, with their rich experience, we’ll be developing new and exciting content that can reach learners not just across the UK, but around the world. 

So, what’s Respectful Relationships all about? In our early discussions with DSS, we talked about how challenging it can be for young people with Down’s syndrome to navigate relationships. From understanding crushes to knowing the differences between platonic love, familial love, and romantic attraction, this new series will dive deep into what makes healthy relationships work. We’ll also be exploring key concepts like respect, tolerance, and consent—building blocks of every relationship.

This isn’t just a one-off. Partnering with DSS opens up so many possibilities for future collaboration, and Respectful Relationships will work alongside other Learning for Life series like Caring Friendships and Families to provide the foundation needed to teach about relationships, and mutual respect.

Johanna Aiyathurai, CEO of Learn and Thrive, shares our excitement:

"We are incredibly excited to partner with an organisation like DSS, which has so much to bring to the creation of our content and to share with our members. Making this partnership official brings forward so many possibilities for future collaboration, and we can’t wait to see what this can provide for our community."

Jo Hughes, Head of Service Development, Down’s Syndrome Scotland:

“We have always been great supporters of the work of Learn and Thrive and are absolutely delighted to be partnering with them to create these much needed meaningful and purposeful resources for young people and their families. We are very excited to explore what further opportunities this collaboration may bring.”

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey—we can’t wait to show you what’s next!