LOTTA BOTTLE - One of Britain's oldest milkmen still delivering morning pints aged 85
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
One of Britain's oldest milkmen is still leaving pints on doorsteps at the age of 85 after doing the same round - for the past 70 YEARS.
Tony Moulds still gets up at 6am six-days-a-week to drop off milk to 40 households around the village he began delivering to as a 15-year-old boy in 1950.
He would take milk straight from the cow round to homes in Holcot, Northants., using a bucket and a ladle and charge customers two-and-a-half pence.
Seven decades later Tony is still doing the same round after clocking up 65,000 miles around the village and dropping off an estimated million pints of milk.
Grandfather-of-four Tony, who also delivers newspapers to all of the homes he takes milk to, says he has no plans to retire yet.
He said: "I want to keep going. It’s doing something I’ve always done and it’s become a habit.
“A lot of people have moved out of the village, but I’ve been delivering to some people for 40 years and one girl for all of my life.
“I like the company and it gets me out. I’ve never had a problem getting up in the morning.
"I’m a morning person and still fit. I get up at 5.27am, it’s just the time I set the alarm, not for any particular reason.
“I have half a cup of tea and I like to get out by 6am. If I'm not out early enough I hit all the traffic.
“I’m done by 8am and I have a couple of rounds of toast and coffee with milk. I’ve always liked full fat milk but I mostly sell semi-skimmed.
“I don’t think there’ll be newspapers in 15 years’ time because people read on the internet and on their phones.
“But my customers like glass bottles. They are buying more milk in bottles because of the problems with plastic.
“When I started I walked the couple of miles around the village with a bucket and ladle. I’d pour it into people’s jugs. It pint cost two-and-a-half pence.
“Since 1953 when milk had to be in sealed bottles I drove a van and I now sell a pint for 83p."
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Image by: Adam Hughes SWNS
Dad-of-two Tony began working on Homestead farm after leaving Northampton Grammar School before taking over milk deliveries when the farmer retired.
Tony’s wife Josephine, who died in 2014 aged 80, used to bottle milk, wash bottles and help him on the farm which he ran as a tenant until 1976.
His son Richard, 62, also used to join him on the milk round while his other son, Tim, 61, washed the bottles.
Tony, a great-grandfather-of-six, added: "They didn’t follow in my footsteps.
“Richard was in the army for 18 years and Tim had his own cladding business. Which is just as well as I don’t want to retire.
"I have always enjoyed meeting new people and knowing the people I serve but I have not always enjoyed the job in the frosty weather.
"I don't like going out at nights now but I don't really mind the mornings at all.
"When I started, we were delivering to virtually everyone in Holcot.
"But now some of the older people have died and the younger wives work and drive and can call in for milk anywhere these days so they don't need my services as much.
"This village is my life. It would be interesting to know if anyone has delivered milk and papers for as long as me."
Pat McGlasson has lived in the village for 40 years and said Tony is always at her door before 7am each day with her daily newspaper.
She said: "Come rain or shine, snow or sleet he delivers the papers and milk every single day.
"He is a unique man, he is very modest and does not blow his own trumpet. He is very aware of the older people in the village and is a real community person.
"What you see is what you get. He is highly thought of and is held in such high esteem by everybody."
Video by: Gabriella Petty
A pair of kind-hearted councillors are spending their free time trying to combat loneliness by setting up a 'chat bench' where strangers can pop by for a natter
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
A pair of kind-hearted councillors are spending their free time trying to combat loneliness by setting up a 'chat bench' where strangers can pop by for a natter.
Lib Dem councillors Martin McCabe and Bob Smytherman are trying to start encouraging strangers to speak to each other to combat isolation.
They have set up their first 'Happy to Chat' bench in their home of Worthing, West Sussex, after copying the scheme that has seen them pop up all over the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia and Switzerland.
Martin said: "The chat benches has been popping up all around England and Wales.
"In Worthing we have a diverse population but we have a large ageing sector. Quite a lot of elderly people are isolated and it's an issue.
"We've spoken to someone who does events at Age UK. She said some of their members go a whole month without speaking to someone. The only chance they have is when they come to these events.
"There is a very real need for these chat benches. And the cost is tiny."
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Martin added: “Chat Benches are a simple idea that can encourage us to break down barriers and say hello. Loneliness is one of the biggest problems we have in society.“
"There are people out there who feel invisible. And our British reserve can sometimes get in the way. I think this is a nice way of letting people know you’re open to a chat."
With a whiteboard and pen, the two men have started going around the seaside town to turn ordinary benches into places of conversation.
The two councillors hope for the executive bench to make a decision on more permanent chat benches in early March.
He added: “We’ve been setting up our makeshift Chat Bench around Worthing and the response has been great. People love the idea and taken to it like a duck to water.
“We hope all councillors support us and that Chat Benches come to Worthing.”
In the UK, more than a million older people say they always or often feel lonely, according to Age UK.
A review found 17 per cent of older people talk to family, friends or neighbours less than once a week.
Loneliness is also a greater health threat than obesity, according to a major study released in 2017.
Transgender soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan swaps her combats for dresses as she takes the modelling world by storm
Image by: Andi Hailley
A soldier who served in the army for 30 years has swapped her combats for dresses -- after coming out as transgender.
Andrea Halliley, 52, was born as Andrew but hid her feelings for most of her life - even keeping her emotions secret from her wife and three children.
Serving in the military, she would wear combats in the day before sneaking to her room at night to get changed into women's clothes she'd bought from nearby shops.
She revealed her true identity when she retired from her career as an infantry soldier in February 2015, bravely confessing to her family and later splitting from her wife.
Now living openly as a transgender woman in Crook, Durham, she likes to be known as Andi and works as a delivery driver.
She has even been signed up with a modelling agency.
Andi said: "When I first came out to my (now ex) wife, I told her I was a cross dresser - I had never heard of the term 'transgender' before.
"My ex wife did some research and told me about transgender people, and it was like a lightbulb moment, we both knew that's what I really was.
"We have split up since but on amicable terms, it's just that she didn't marry a woman and that's fine, I don't hold any bad feelings towards her or anything.
"I still see our two teenage children every other weekend, they've been brilliant with my change and I have an older daughter from a previous relationship who has been fab as well.
"After telling my family, it was time to tell other people like my friends and old colleagues, and although I was nervous, I've actually had hardly any negative feedback."
Andi said she has known she was different since she was a child and liked to dress up in her mother's clothes and jewellery from five years old.
But growing up in Saddleworth in the 70s, Andi felt that coming out was not an option.
She said: "Initially I didn't think there was anything wrong, but as I grew older, I became aware of societal norms.
"I think there was a certain amount of embarrassment and a lot of confusion.
"I didn't hope it would go away because it felt right, but I did bury my feelings."
She joined the military in 1985 and served in the infantry for the next 30 years, rising to the rank of Colour Sergeant, touring in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Iraq.
Despite Andi forming close friendships with her military colleagues, nobody knew that she identified as a woman.
Andi had been aware that she identified as a female ever since she was little, but suppressed how she felt.
It wasn't until she had left the military that she bravely ventured outside as a female, visiting a trans event in Cardiff in October 2015, and the experience confirmed what she had known for so long yet.
Andi said: "The military is very macho, especially in the infantry.
"I think I was trying to prove I was macho as well, but it was very difficult living a secret life in such an overtly male environment.
"It was difficult living with your own secret war inside your head."
Feeling most like her true self when dressed in women's clothes, Andi devised a secret routine that would allow her to live as a female when off duty.
Andi said: "Any dressing I did at that time had to be very secret.
"I'd buy women's clothes in the town of wherever we were stationed at the time and smuggle it back into my room without anyone seeing.
"After the work I needed to do had been done for the day, I'd lock myself in my room and get dressed into the clothes I'd bought in secret.
"I wouldn't put make up on or anything at that time, but just putting on more feminine clothes made me feel more comfortable.
"I was always worried that someone would knock and discover my secret, but thankfully, that never happened."
Image by: Andi Hailley
Image by: Andi Hailley
Image by: Andi Hailley
Image by: Andi Hailley
Image by: Andi Hailley
Andi retired from the Army in 2015, and several months later, she decided it was time to come out so that she could live openly as a transgender woman.
The first person Andi came out to was her wife who was shocked and initially felt angry and betrayed, but after doing research into transgender people, she grew supportive of Andi being out as transgender.
They discussed staying together but decided it was not a viable option and split amicably.
She told her family first before sharing the news with friends, including fellow soldiers that she had grown close to over the three decades that she had been serving for.
Andi said: "It was nerve wracking coming out to the guys from the Infantry, as it is such a macho male environment.
"Incredibly, a lot of my old colleagues were supportive of me being transgender.
"The general response was if it makes you happy, then go for it.
"Regardless of their reaction, I wasn't going to hide who I am any more, but it was nice to have that support and acceptance."
Andi got a job as a delivery driver and is currently in the middle of the lengthy NHS process to be helped by a gender identity clinic.
Her GP referred her to the NHS gender identity service in Leeds in September 2016 but is still waiting for her first appointment at a gender identity clinic and has been informed it will be in February or March 2020 at the latest.
Andi's struggle with waiting to receive help from the NHS has not stopped her from embracing her feminine identity and she lives openly as a transgender woman.
She was at an alternative burlesque show in May 2017 with friends when she got chatting to a woman who suggested Andi audition for The Alternative Model of the Year Contest.
Andi entered the competition for the first time in 2017, and has made it to the catwalk final of the contest for the past three years in a row.
She fell in love with the modelling world and after taking part in multiple photoshoots, Andi was signed by the agency Rogue Model Management.
Andi said: "It is amazing to think how much my life has changed since leaving the Army and embracing being transgender.
"Five years ago, I was wearing combats everyday, pretending to be this big macho man all day before secretly hiding in my room wearing girly clothes in fear.
"Now, I'm strutting down runways in feminine clothes and posing for cameras as a proud transgender woman.
"I have no regrets over joining the military, it was an important time in my life, but I do regret wasting so much time not being me.
"I'm just so happy I finally decided to come out and show people the real me, and I'll never hide that side of me ever again."
This cat has visited 43 states in America with her truck driver owner
Image by: David Durst
A 'trucking' cat which has travelled across 43 states in America in her owner's cab has built up a loyal following on Instagram.
Tora is a one-year-old Scottish Straight cat who loves riding in the passenger seat of her owner David Durst's truck.
David, 24, struggled to adopt a cat because agencies did not believe that a feline would have a good quality of life on the road.
Just as he was about to give up, a breeder sent him a picture of the then eight-week old Tora and David knew he had just found the purrfect co-pilot.
Together the pair have visited 43 of the 50 states in the USA, sharing the snaps and videos of their adventures on social media along the way.
The 'Tora The Trucker Cat' Instagram page has built up 12,700 followers.
David said: “We got Tora when she was just eight weeks old and hit the road just three days later.
"She was the bravest little kitten I've ever seen and took to the truck instantly. She loved looking out the window and taking in all the new sights. It was an instant fit.”
“We've been very overwhelmed by the amazing reception Tora has received on social media.
"It's been nothing but an outpouring of love and support, we never imagined such a great response.
"We're very thankful for all of the friends she's made along the way and we can't wait to make even more!”
Image by: David Durst
Image by: David Durst
Image by: David Durst
Image by: David Durst
Image by: David Durst
The pair have visited cities such as Sacramento, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Orlando and plan to visit the remaining five continental states this year.
David said: "Tora loves to get out of the truck and explore, especially in big cities!
“My favorite memory with Tora isn't one of the many places we've been or one of the things we've seen together, it's actually the first time she walked confidently on a leash.
"Getting a cat used to walking on a leash is a daunting task on its own, add in the loud sounds of a truck stop and for some it becomes impossible.
"We were at a truck stop in Zuber, Florida, three weeks into having Tora on the road and took her outside to do some daily harness training.
"As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was exploring! We were outside for nearly two hours waiting for her to get tired. T
"That day was a big step towards all of the adventures the future held.”
Tora has a litterbox in the sleeper of the cab which is twice daily.
"This is the question we get asked the most by far," joked David.
Keep up to date with Tora and Dave’s adventures by following them on Instagram @toratravels
Image by: David DurstVideo by: David Durst
Amazing photos show extreme close-up pictures of the insides of precious gem stones - with colourful patterns that look like tropical seas or photos from space
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
These stunning close-up photographs show the colourful patterns found inside precious gemstones - which look like tropical seas or photos taken from space.
The amazing, swirly patterns, in shades of yellow, orange, red, purple and blue, were found on the polished insides of a series of colourful rocks.
One photo, in different shades of purple, shows the jagged edges of an amethyst stone.
And another, in dappled hues of blue and white, resembles ocean waves breaking.
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
Image by: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza
The microscopic photographs were captured by photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza, 44, who specialises in macro photography.
The technique allows a photographer to take extremely close-up photographs of their subjects.
His latest photos show the insides of agate rocks which have formed over millions of years due to the cooling of lava covering them.
Alberto said: "Nature always surprises with its wonder. It seems that tropical seas, remote islands and universes can be found set inside these stones."
A disgruntled painter and decorator who claims he is owed £500 for his work has taken revenge - by daubing a message on the side of an old pub he had worked on
Image by: Lee Mclean SWNS
A disgruntled painter and decorator who claims he is owed £500 for his work has taken revenge - by daubing a message on the side of an old pub he had worked on.
Dean Reeves, 50, wrote in large black letters: "Want your house painting? Don’t be like Terry, pay the bill! Now you will!” over the cream exterior he had painted.
Dean claims builder Terry Taylor paid him just £650 of the £1,150 agreed price for the work, but refused to pay the rest until he had done additional work on the building.
He claims he worked through his lunch for a week to get the job done on time on the former North Star Club in Bolsover, Derbs, which is being converted into flats.
However, he says Mr Taylor told him he wouldn't be getting paid the remainder of the cash until he "gave the back of the house another coat".
But the father-of-two says when he did what was asked, Mr Taylor told him "you're not getting paid a penny until you've done the fascias" - which was not part of the original quote.
Disgruntled decorator Dean lavished the cream coloured rendered building with huge black paint encouraging other people not be "like Terry" and pay the bill.
Dean said: "I gave him a quote for the job and he said he would 'ping me the money straight away'.
"But he tried to change the job halfway through. The job was supposed to be done on scaffolding, he was supposed to have taken all the signs and guttering off.
"But I did the job off ladders, saving him £900 on scaffolding and I took all the signs off myself.
"He changed the job, kept asking me to extra work. He said there was a number of jobs I needed to do before I would get paid.
"I did seven days hard work on it. I didn't have lunch breaks, I worked hard all week to get it done.
"He kept saying, 'I'll pay you tomorrow', but tomorrow never came.
"I did the work and he said if I go back to give the back of the building another coat, he would pay me.
"I went back on Tuesday (14 Jan) and did that, but when I sent him a picture, he just said 'that looks better' with a smiling face.
"I asked him where my money was and he said I wasn't going to get a penny until I did the fascias, which we'd never agreed on."
Image by: Lee Mclean SWNS
Image by: Lee Mclean SWNS
Image by: Lee Mclean SWNS
Dean says he took the drastic action two days after being told he was not going to get the £500 he was owed.
He added: "I went back on tea time on Thursday (16 Jan) and did it off ladders.
"It was my first job back since Christmas, I have bills to pay and need to make money.
"It just got too much and I wanted to prove the point. I don't regret it and I'd do it again if I had to.
"I was never going to get paid, but I wanted to make sure he had to pay something to get it cleared off."
When contacted for comment, Mr Taylor has denied ripping Dean off and said he was going to pay in full once the work had been completed.
Mr Taylor said: "The bloke is a prat. He should have just done the work and he would have been paid in full. It’s standard.
"None of what he says is true. He wasn’t asked to do additional work, it was offset work by other jobs he was meant to do but didn’t.
"It was his idea, he said he would do some other jobs to offset what he wasn’t doing. He was getting paid the same to do less work.
"I wasn’t going to pay him for the whole job until he finished it, no one would.
"At the beginning he even said he’d do the work before getting paid at all, but I said no.
"Then, halfway through the job he blackmailed me and asked for all the money up front.
"I’ve spoken to police now and they will be looking to arrest him. He’s going to be done for criminal damage.
"I found out about it last night but I’m completely unbothered. It’s just paint, the idiot.
"I’m the boss, so I’m just going to go round and paint over it. Do his job for him. It’ll be done by the end of the day.
"I don’t understand why you would waste your time painting that nonsense instead of doing your job, when in that time you could have finished it.
"This is the first and last time I’m working with this man."
A Derbyshire police spokesman said: “We received a call this morning reporting that a property in Welbeck Road, Bolsover had had graffiti painted onto it.
“It appears to be a dispute between two parties and we will be getting in touch with those involved in due course.”
Video by: Ashley Moran
BBC presenter's dress patched up with gaffer tape and clips after bursting open minutes before going live
Image by: Jon Mills
A BBC TV newsreader whose dress burst open minutes before going on air was saved by her colleagues - who patched it up with gaffer tape and bulldog clips.
Points West anchor Liz Beacon, 43, was drafted in at the last minute to present the evening news and rushed home to grab her new and unworn Zara outfit.
But minutes before going live the zip 'popped', leaving the black fitted dress gaping all down her back.
Without time to change, the quick-thinking crew pulled it together using big metal bulldog clips and black gaffer tape - and took a photo to show Liz.
Viewers had no idea of the outfit malfunction when they tuned in to watch the live broadcast just 20 minutes later.
Liz, from Bristol said: "I hadn't worn the dress before and it was a bit sticky when I did the zip up, but I just thought that was because the dress is quite a tight style anyway.
"Never in a million years did I imagine it would burst open half an hour later!
The dress, bought at Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol, was a birthday gift from her mother in December.
Liz was looking forward to debuting it on the programme because it was different to her usual presenting outfits.
Image by: Jon Mills
Image by: Jon Mills
Image by: Jon Mills
She managed to stay composed for the entire 30 minute programme with her dress haphazardly taped and clipped closed behind her.
Liz said: "We go live on air at 6.30pm and at about 6.10pm I felt this pop and thought, I don’t believe this, I think the zip has just gone.
"I asked the director - another Liz - to come and take a look, and when she saw it, she gasped and said 'Quick, get me some clips and some gaffer tape'.
"I had no other options. There is a dressing room here but I don’t store any dresses in there - that will change from now on!
"There were three people helping me in the end, with fellow presenter David Garmston next to me trying to keep me calm.
"It was all hands to the pump - a director, a fellow presenter and a cameraman, all trying to help me in the 20 minutes we had before going live.
"I was still fiddling with it, reaching behind me, trying to make sure the tape was stuck down, as we went on air.
"I couldn’t relax the entire programme, which is most unlike me! I kept feeling it move, and was completely paranoid that it would ping open again."
She has since spoken to Zara regarding the incident and is liaising with their customer services with the hope of organising a replacement.
This is the moment a turf war between Cornish pasty and burger vans turned violent - with one trying to run over his rival
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
This is the moment a turf war between Cornish pasty and burger vans turned violent - with one trying to run over his rival.
Benjamin Harbour, 38, is filmed deliberately driving his car into Scot Weller (corr) on an industrial estate after the pair began to argue over territory.
Scot had run his business, Over the Top Cornish Pasties, peacefully for years until the arrival of the Scran Van, a company run by Harbour that sells burgers and jacket spuds.
After several incidents where Scot and his staff were threatened to stay away from the site in Launceston, Cornwall, he was advised by police to record any interactions.
And the dispute took a violent twist when on one occasion, while Scot was filming the argument, Harbour got into his car and drove straight into him.
The thug told his victim: 'you didn't like that, did you'.
Harbour, from Tavistock, Devon, was sentenced at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court last week after previously admitting driving without due care and attention and common assault.
Speaking after the case, Scot said: “I run Over the Top Cornish Pasties in Callington. We’re a small family business and looked to expand by delivering to homes and businesses.
“He also had a food van and would drive into the industrial estate, sound his horn and people would come out.
“He sold completely different types of food to us so we never considered ourselves rivals but then me and my staff started receiving messages saying we should leave Launceston.
“We didn’t think much of it but the messages kept coming and there was also negative feedback left online. I just carried on as I didn’t want to be intimidated.”
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Scot continued visiting the site but kept his phone handy to record any altercations so the footage could be used as evidence.
Then, in June last year, Scot saw Harbour pull into a car park in Launceston behind him so quickly pulled out his phone.
Scot said: “I was delivering to a garage and saw him pull up behind me.
"Police had told me to film anything that happened and when he saw the camera he became aggressive.
“He got into his van and drove at me. Luckily I only scraped my elbow and knee but it could have been a lot worse.”
Scot said that after the incident he and his colleagues stopped delivering to Launceston as they didn’t believe it was safe to do so.
He said: “He’s a bully and I want people to know to keep away. We stopped delivering to Launceston but I wasn’t going to stop the court case.
“In the end he pleaded guilty and luckily our business is doing well. It’s crazy with non-stop orders and we can’t keep up.
"We’ve got nine members of staff in our third year and we might start delivering to Launceston again now if the demand is there.”
As punishment Harbour, who operated under the name The Scran Van, was made subject of a community order consisting of a four-month 5pm to 7am curfew.
He was also told by magistrates to pay costs and a victim surcharge.
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Image by: Matthew Newby SWNS
Scot said that the incident which landed Harbour in court came after an eight month campaign of abuse which included threats of arson and violence.
He added: "It went on for six to eight months. He would ring about five times a day giving us abuse. He would say that he would get gypsies to burn down our van.
"When he would see us driving he would swerve his vehicle at us. He had about 26 Facebook profiles and he would message us abuse from all of them.
"He was constantly giving us abuse, but we didn't want to give in to a bully, we just ignored him.
"We called the police and they said to record everything, and it got to that day in the video.
"I was on my last delivery and he pulled into the car park behind me. He opened the back door of my van so I confronted him and that's when all this happened.
"It seems like he wants Launceston all to himself, we've never had any trouble from anyone else there.
"He came up to the van and shouted through the window, but he's not really a scary guy.
"At the time it was a bit shocking, when he hit me with the car. I just grabbed hold of the bonnet. He was only doing about 5mph but you don't expect someone to actually ram you with their car.
"My hands were a bit shaky afterwards, I think it was all the adrenaline.
"He now runs a vehicle recovery business, but he is just a nuisance.
"He got a heavy sentence for what he did to me but I don't think it has really taught him much."
Video by: Ashley Moran
Dad who recorded his baby son every day for a year creates hilarious montage video of him 'singing' AC/DC's rock classic Thunderstruck
Image by: Matt MacMillan
A dad who recorded his baby son every day for a year has edited the clips together to create a video which appears to show him singing AC/DC's rock classic 'Thunderstruck'.
Matt MacMillan compiled clips of little Ryan making noises before splicing them together in time with the music.
Angus Young's iconic guitar riff from 1990 is instantly recognisable as the video begins - with the one-year-old also providing several other parts as song progresses.
Image by: Steve Chatterley
Image by: Matt MacMillan
Image by: Steve Chatterley
Matt, from New Jersey, USA, manually sorted 83 clips according to pitch then organised each according to note to create the track.
He found 21 notes in total - enough to carry the tune.
Angus then listened to the AC/DC track over and over again, figuring out the notes by ear.
He also used his son's sneeze as a cymbal, a clip of Ryan hitting a sofa with his hand for the drum and the child slapping the floor for the snare.
Video by: Matt MacMillan
Inspirational teen living with Down's syndrome is busting myths about her condition - through DANCING
Image by: Ellis Wylam
An inspirational teenage girl living with Down's syndrome is busting myths about her condition - through DANCING.
Francesca Goff, 18, was born with the condition which affects around 775 babies each year in the UK and wants others to know the condition is nothing to fear.
Her parents, Annemarie and Frank Goff, initially worried about Francesca and the quality of life she would lead - until their daughter discovered dancing.
But fearless Francesca struts her stuff at every opportunity - and now dances at shows throughout the UK.
Francesca, who this year attended the UN in Geneva to speak about her experiences, is part of three dance groups in Cornwall.
She dances with PicNMix, a group by the Cornwall Down’s Syndrome Support Group, and she is part of the Collective Dance Group and TR14ers - a hip hop community dance charity.
Francesca said: "I like to make my family proud and myself proud and I want to work hard as best as I can.
“I like being with my friends having fun and learning to communicate well and learn new dances.”
In her earlier years, Francesca experienced the typical symptoms of a child with Down’s syndrome - with both her walking and speech delayed.
But now her life has completely transformed, and the family travel from their home in Camborne, Cornwall, so Francesca can dance at Public Health conferences.
Image by: Ellis Wylam
Image by: Ellis Wylam
Image by: Ellis Wylam
Annemarie said: “She has always enjoyed dancing.
“Her real love of dancing started in primary school and since then she has performed for local festivals all around Cornwall to raise the profile of Down’s syndrome and show people what they are actually capable of.”
The Goffs have always wanted to spread awareness around Francesca’s life with Down’s Syndrome - but said there is a lot more to be done.
Francesca's father Frank said: “People always ask the question ‘is life tough having a child with Down’s syndrome?’ and my answer is always the same and that is that it is like having any other child.
“But the more people get out there about Down’s syndrome the less afraid of it people are.”
Whilst Francesca knew that she was being treated differently growing up it is not something she says she ever really worried about.
But her sister Cecily, who is two years older, went to the same school as Francesca and said she would notice her sister being treated differently and it would annoy her.
Cecily said: “Sometimes people don’t include her, not because they are nasty people but because they don’t understand and they don’t know how to approach it.
“Down’s syndrome has always been a part of my life so I never thought it was a thing.
“But when I went to secondary schools you get the segregation of kids with special needs but they are fine when they speak to you in the playground.
“It is important that that is exposed and shown as normal and it’s something that needs to be focused on more.”
Helen Laverty, who is the professional lead for Learning Disability Nursing at the University of Nottingham and met Francesca in Geneva, said: “She is never afraid to speak up or out.
“She is the most effective role model for young children and parents with Down’s Syndrome who are just entering the scary world of main stream education.
"Francesca inspires people to dream big.”
Video by: Gabriella Petty
