An inclusive dance charity has won two gold awards at the 2024 International Business Awards.
DanceSyndrome, based in the North West, was awarded the Gold Stevie Award for Organisation of the Year - Non-Profit or Government Organisations – Small.
Co-founder and trustee, Sue Blackwell, also received the Gold Stevie Award in the Turning the World Upside Down category.
The awards were announced on August 14.
DanceSyndrome was co-founded in 2009 by Sue Blackwell and her daughter Jen Blackwell, who has Down's syndrome.
The charity was established to provide career opportunities in community dance that are accessible to people with learning disabilities.
All DanceSyndrome sessions are disability-led, with people with learning disabilities taking visible dance leader roles.
The charity offers weekly inclusive dance workshops, accredited leadership training, and performances by the DS Collective at various events, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The International Business Awards received entries from organisations in 62 nations and territories.
More than 3,600 nominations were submitted this year.
Stevie Awards president, Maggie Miller, said: "We’ve long considered The International Business Awards to be the ‘Olympics for the workplace,’ and this year’s competition is the best-ever proof of that.
"The winners have demonstrated that their organisations have set and achieved lofty goals."
For more information about DanceSyndrome's work, visit dancesyndrome.co.uk.
Jen Blackwell, founder of DanceSyndrome, has received significant recognition for her contribution to the charity, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Salford in July 2024 and a British Empire Medal for Services to Disabled People in June 2023.
She said: "Winning awards shows that people with learning disabilities can do amazing things with their lives if given a chance.
"I do have Down’s syndrome but that doesn’t define me.
"I believe that everybody can dance and do things they love no matter how other people define us."
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