T-21 stands for Trisomy 21, (meaning three copies of chromosome 21) the medical name for Down’s Syndrome.
T-21 was established to meet the needs of the adult members of the Peterborough Area Down’s Syndrome Group, which was founded in 1998. They recognised the challenges that young people face in finding their place in the world as they reach their teenage and early adult years. Like all young people, they need friendship and support, but also the opportunity to gain new skills and enjoy social interaction, both in the workplace and the wider community. This desire led to them opening the Birch Tree cafe in a disused school in Peterborough, staffed by young people with Down Syndrome. All the staff are being introduced to a range of skills, including cooking, gardening, cleaning, serving customers and financial management.
T21 wanted a film that showcased all the amazing work they are doing in the community at the Birch Tree cafe. Filmmaker Andrew Rutter did an amazing job of getting the most out of everyone on the day and it is a testimony to him that he captured this much of footage all in one day!
Here are a few of the film stills from the one day of filming. It was important for the charity to document the community atmosphere.
Film still from the T21 project- Image credit-Andrew Rutter
This project ended in an amazing way with a Silver People’s Award at the Charity Film Awards. A superb ending for a brilliant and well deserving charity!
To watch the winning film, see here: https://helpfilm.org/previous-work