Shropshire charity calls for support due to lack of available NHS funding
Shropshire based charity The Movement Centre is seeking support to help boost its funds.
A Shropshire based charity is seeking support to help boost its funds. The Movement Centre, based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry, provides a specialist therapy to help children with movement disabilities to gain independence
The charity, which has been operating for 23 years, has been able to apply for funding to the NHS for children who attend the centre. While funding from the NHS has been in decline over the last few years, The Movement Centre has recently had confirmation that it can no longer access funding for any of the children referred to the charity for therapy.
The Movement Centre’s voluntary Chair of Trustees, David Vicary, is calling for support. David became a trustee at The Movement Centre because of his first-hand experience of the organisation, when his son Stan, received therapy.
“When Stan came into the world, all we wished for was him to have the same opportunity to learn and develop like all children deserve,” David explained. “He was born with Down Syndrome and a range of other medical complications. By the time he was four, he still had very little trunk control and was a way off being mobile. The prospect of him ever walking was a distant dream.”
“That’s when we discovered The Movement Centre,” continued David. “The referral to them transformed our lives in indescribable ways. Stan responded well to the specialist therapy, Targeted Training, delivered at The Movement Centre. Today is a happy, very mobile boy, actively participating in life and the adventure of our family. This would not have been possible without The Movement Centre.”
The charity is now appealing for additional funds, because of the increased pressure on due to the lack of NHS funding available. They now have to support towards the cost of Targeted Training therapy for all of the children who come to The Movement Centre.
David will be running the Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon in September and the charity is planning a number of fundraising activities to help towards their drive of raising additional funds. They are calling for anyone who feels they may be able to support to donate to David’s Just Giving page or to contact the charity for other ways they can help.
Last year The Movement Centre supported 74 children and their families, by providing Targeted Training therapy.
Through a course of therapy at The Movement Centre children can gain head control, so they can interact with their family; it can help children develop the skills to sit unaided, so that they can play with their friends. For some children it can enable them to walk, which means they can be far more independent.
