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JP Mateta, Fliss Gibbons and Chloe Arthur cook pizzas with the DS Eagles

As part of the Down’s Syndrome Eagles employability course, GAME ON, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Fliss Gibbons, and Chloe Arthur made a special visit to the Palace training ground to join participants in making pizzas and cheesecakes.

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As part of our Match of the Day Community Feature broadcast last week, participants on our Down’s syndrome employability course, DS GAME ON, enjoyed a memorable evening at the Palace Academy in Beckenham alongside Palace stars.

First-team players Jean-Philippe Mateta, Fliss Gibbons and Chloe Arthur stopped by to join the DS Eagles in a lively cooking session. Together, they got stuck into making pizzas and cheesecakes,  all part of a programme designed to help young people with Down’s Syndrome develop new skills, build confidence and find what they love.

Susan Patterson-Smith, Head of Pathways and Learning at Palace for Life said “This is an amazing opportunity for our young people, to come together and do some activities around life skills“.

We also spoke to Mum of Oliver, one of our participants on the DS GAME ON programme, who said “Something in the community like this, with other people just like him, is a great thing to be able to do.

Each season, the BBC Match of the Day visits all of the 20 Premier League clubs to see the work that they do through their Club Community Organisations. Last season, we hosted the BBC at the Crystal Palace F.C. Academy in which the entire Palace Men and Women’s teams and Managers got involved with a variety of our programmes to get an idea of the work we do with young south Londoners.

Cooking isn’t all the DS Eagles have been up to. The DS Eagles recently recorded their very own version of Glad All Over, with the aim of reducing stereotypes when it comes to disability and work, and showing the wider world what they’re really capable of.

To donate to the Glad All Over campaign, please click here. Or to find out more about our GAME ON programme, click here. And for our DS Eagles, head here.

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