Northern Ireland Family Day 2026

This weekend, we hosted our Northern Ireland Family Day, bringing together families and healthcare professionals from across the region.

Family Days are such an important part of what we do at SOFT UK. They help to break down the isolation that can so often follow a diagnosis of Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18, giving families the opportunity to meet others who understand, share their experiences and stories, and remember their children together.

But this Family Day was particularly special for SOFT UK.

For the first time, it was shaped and delivered by Emma, our incredible Regional Engagement Officer for Northern Ireland.

We introduced the Regional Engagement Officer role at the end of 2025 as a pilot for a new way of working. Rather than relying solely on a central team to support families across the whole of the UK, we wanted to put people on the ground in local communities, building relationships, understanding local needs and making sure families can access support where they are.

Northern Ireland felt like the perfect place to begin, and we couldn't be happier with how the role has developed.

Already, Emma has strengthened our Northern Ireland community and created new opportunities for families to connect. But perhaps just as importantly, she has built relationships with the NHS and local health trusts, helping to ensure that families receiving a diagnosis of Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18 know that they are not alone and know where they can turn for support.

Through Emma's work, we have also helped introduce a referral pathway within the NHS across the region. As a result, more families are being connected with SOFT UK and receiving the information, support and community they need to navigate what can be an incredibly complex and overwhelming diagnosis.

And this is only the beginning.

We hope to introduce more Regional Engagement Officers across the UK next year, building on the incredible foundations Emma has created in Northern Ireland and bringing our support closer to the families who need it.

A huge thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for helping make the introduction of this role possible. Funding from organisations like theirs, alongside the generosity of our community and supporters, makes it possible for SOFT UK to expand our reach and provide support in areas where it is so desperately needed.

And finally, a huge well done to Emma.

Thank you for everything you have done to build this community and make this Family Day happen.

And thank you to every family and professional who joined us this weekend and helped make the day so special.

This is what community looks like.