FROM traditional carols to The Greatest Showman, a special group of children and their parents dazzled shoppers at a County Durham supermarket on Sunday.

That's as youngsters from the Together 21 project, in Newton Aycliffe, came together to spread Christmas cheer in their local Tesco store.

Based at the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) Centre, the group was established last year to help children and young people with Down Syndrome and their parents gain essential skills to help them meet their future with confidence.

Group sessions are held each week to support both children and their parents with everything from speech and language skills to sensory pay and preparing for school.

And this Christmas, leaders asked the group to show off their talents by singing their hearts out at the local store.

Everything from Jingles Bells to hits from The Greatest Showman and even their own songs were performed with everyone also accompanying the words with sign language - a skill the children learn from an early age.

And the group drew such a large crowd that the entrance to the store was crammed with people wanting to not only listen but also see the performance.

Maggie Hart, education consultant at Together 21, said she was delighted with the turnout and everyone was having a great time.

"I'm quite emotional, I can't believe how many people have turned out. When we first suggested it, the parents looked at me as if to say 'What on earth?' but then they really got onboard."

Diane Goodwin, project lead, said the group had been singing every week for 18 months.

"We do singing for the younger and older children but we've had so many babies come through recently that we felt it was quite good, especially for their mental health, to be trying to sing and sign."

Parent, Donna Lillie, from Sunderland, took part with her daughter, Olivia, one.

Mrs Lillie said she had been attending sessions at PCP since Olivia was about six months old and really enjoyed making new friends with parents in the same situation.

Talking about the event she said: "I think it's really good for raising awareness as well."

Fellow parent, Sarah Ramshaw, of Ingleby Barwick, was singing with her son William, three, and was also accompanied by her daughter, Charlotte, one.

Mrs Ramshaw said she had been attending sessions with William since he was three months old and said the service was "invaluable".

Development worker, Jo Walker, said the event was a way to say thank you to the community and especially to Tesco, which had contributed £4,000, and other businesses throughout the town.

Matt Kettlewell, one of the managers of the store, said it was a pleasure to have the group in store.

Carol Gaskarth, from PCP, said the charity was proud to support the project which currently supports 46 families and costs £90,000 a year to run.