A PROJECT to help children and young people with Down Syndrome gain essential skills has had a welcome boost thanks to generous company employees.

The Together 21 project, in Newton Aycliffe, has had a cash boost of £2,350 after those at Baltic Training made it their charity of the year.

Staff undertook several challenges throughout 2018 including a sports day and taking part in the Coast to Coast cycle challenge.

And staff representatives joined children and parents for one of their sessions at the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) centre, which manages the project, at their Newton Aycliffe base, yesterday, to deliver the cheque.

Project lead, Diane Goodwin, said the group were overwhlemed by the team's generosity and would be using the money to invest in some educational equipment.

She said: "We want to say a huge thank you. Everyone is absolutely over the moon."