Youngster to star in Down's Syndrome awareness music video

Bethany Parr and mum Beverley will appear in the “Carpool Karaoke” style video - a format made popular by British presenter James Corden on his US talk show - as part of a project for Down’s Syndrome Awareness Month.

The mum-and-daughter duo, from Leigh, are one of just five families from the North West to contribute their performance to the video, having been invited to do so through social media groups.

Beverley said the video would help challenge some of the misconceptions about living with Down’s Syndrome.

“Some people think it’s a bug-bear on your life,” she said.

“This video shows all of our children active and living life to the full. Don’t be fearful of Down’s Syndrome, there’s nothing to fear. They lead fulfilling lives!”

She added: “The way I put it, she (Bethany) just takes the scenic route. She will get to where they need to be, just a bit more slowly.”

The video is part of the #WouldntChangeAThing campaign. The hashtag was popularised back in March by the viral video “50 Mum, 50 Kids, 1 Extra Chromosome” - which quickly became one of the most popular clips in the world, racking up over 230m views and hitting headlines around the globe.

It depicted 50 mothers with their children, all of whom have Down’s Syndrome, having fun singing and signing along to Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” in their cars.

The initiative sparked schools across the nation to learn to sign, a government petition to introduce signing in schools and was even shown at the Queen’s Birthday celebrations in Abu Dhabi.

A star studded group waded-in with their support including Christina Perri herself and James Corden, who tweeted that it made him cry.

Most importantly, the video led to the creation of Wouldn’t Change a Thing, the organisation which has now created this follow-up video, to be released on October 1.

It aims to show the joy that children with Down’s Syndrome bring to family life on a backdrop of ever-increasing screening and termination for the condition.

Organisers are remaining tight-lipped about which song has been used for the video, but there is still a huge buzz about the upcoming video. To find out more, visit wouldntchangeathing.org