Family's joy as daughter is chosen for US campaign

Violet will feature among 500 photographs broadcast at Times Square in New York

The mother of a girl with Down's syndrome hoped a campaign showing her in the bright lights of Times Square would raise awareness of the condition.

A picture of two-year-old Violet, from Chelmsford, will be broadcast at the world-famous plaza in New York on 6 September.

It was chosen as part of a 500-image slideshow arranged by the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) to improve visibility of the condition.

Violet's mother, Rebecca, said she was ecstatic about celebrating her daughter on a big screen.

"It's all about promoting understanding and trying to educate everyone that having a child with Down's syndrome is not the end of the world, it's actually a real joy," she added.

The family planned to watch the hour-long event, due to begin at 14:30 BST, via a livestream on Facebook.

Rebecca said Violet was a "very smiley, mischievous, loving" girl

Violet was chosen from more than 2,600 entries to the NDSS, submitted from 11 different countries.

"It was amazing, I just couldn't wait to tell everybody," said 42-year-old Rebecca, recalling the moment she heard Violet would feature in the slideshow.

"She's not had the greatest start in life, so it's going to be amazing to see her up there.

"Hopefully one day we'll take her and show her where she was."