Bobath NEWS Issue Twenty Winter 2010
THE
NEWSLETTER
OF
THE
BOBATH
CENTRE
Liz leads from the back! The Bobath Centre entered its biggest running team yet in the adidas Women’s 5k Challenge, led by Bobath regular Liz Greeley.
Liz was part of a 40-strong Bobath team joining 12,500 ladies in the annual jog through Hyde Park, London. “It was a really enjoyable day with a very friendly atmosphere,” said Liz. “The only downside was that I had to start at the back so that other people didn’t run into my electric wheelchair!” Bobath Centre reception staff, Jayne Maskell and Helen Hanson and therapy assistant Kim Shadbolt, also took part. For the second year, pupils and staff from Highgate Wood School in north
Thieves make the Bobath Centre smart Thieves have stripped the lead from the Bobath Centre’s roof causing thousands of pounds of damage. Four hooded
London gave up their Sunday morning to support the charity. Each runner was challenged to raise £65 which they did by selling cakes, holding yard sales and asking friends and family to support their efforts. A few even ran with their mums.
Fundraising manager, Kevin Gillespie said “The Women’s 5k is always a tremendous day out and everyone gets carried along with the enthusiasm of it all. Liz also set a great example for the girls, showing them that disability is no barrier to living life to the full.” Thank you to Liz and the team for raising over £2,300 for the charity.
Making a New Year’s resolution? Look on www.bobath.org.uk for treks, challenges and runs or call Sarah on 020 8442 2275.
See page six for report and photos.
men broke onto the site in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday and used a commercial waste bin to climb on to the roof of the Centre. Once there they ripped out lead causing between £8,000 and £10,000 of damage.
“This was very demoralising at the time because we had just spent over £50,000 replacing the leaking glass roof in reception” said Jayne Pearce, Bobath director. “However everyone has pulled together and with a bit of reorganising of rooms it was business as usual.” The
theft initially went unnoticed until rain water started to pour in through one of the therapy rooms and the roof was inspected. Repair work has begun to prevent further damage and the lead has now been sprayed with “Smart Water”, a chemical containing a DNA type code that can be read under ultra-violet light making stolen items traceable to their owner. We would like to thank local residents who kindly donated £600 towards the costs of repair.
The Bobath Happy Children Appeal See page 8 for details
BOBATH
NEWS
Trusted advice
Our friends in the east
Peter Cooke has been co-opted as an advisor to the children’s council. Peter is an employment lawyer and consultant with Michael Simpkins LLP. He is a regular speaker at conferences and writes on Employment Law topics.
In July, Christine Barber, director of therapy services, addressed the Bobath 40th anniversary congress in Japan and acknowledged the contribution of Mr Katsumasa Kii, a senior Bobath tutor practising at the Bobath Memorial Hospital and Morinomiya Hospital in Osaka. Mr Kii and Christine have been colleagues and friends for many years: “His tireless energy in training Bobath therapists and promoting the Bobath concept is one of the reasons the approach is popular across Southeast Asia” she said. During her visit, Christine led an advanced Bobath course at Osaka’s Developmental Rehabilitation Center.
Stephen Latner, the chairman of the trustees, welcomed the appointment: “Recruiting Peter strengthens the skills-set of the council and we all look forward to working with him”.
Christine with therapy staff in Osaka
Peter has already made his mark by running in the Royal Parks Half Marathon for the charity.
We have a plan
The trustees have updated the Bobath Children’s Centre’s three-year strategy. The plan along with the annual report, accounts and clinical audit are available on the website.
Christine is an admirer of the Japanese system: “I am impressed by the way the hospital has integrated patient services. They have in and out-patient facilities and a therapy team that can treat both adults with neurological conditions and children with cerebral palsy. This greatly improves the continuity of care for patients.”
ADVERTISMENT
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News Katy and Sarah join the team
2010
Charity focus
CP Sport is a charity based in Nottingham providing sporting opportunities for people with cerebral palsy throughout England and Wales.
CP Sport caters for all ages and abilities - from those taking part for fun right through to 2012 paralympic competitors.
Some of the activities CP Sport offers include athletics, boccia, bowls, football, swimming and table tennis and cricket. For further information go to www.cpsport.org
Switch to email
We are planning to use email a lot more from next year.
Email makes it much easier for us to keep you up to date with the Centre’s work. It is also more cost-effective not to mention environmentally friendly. Katy Perreault joins as an occupational therapist. Canadianborn Katy worked in children’s rehabilitation before moving to the UK, and completed the Bobath training course in 2008. She worked in a community and special needs school in the North West before moving to Bobath. “I wanted to work in an environment where I knew I could further develop my clinical and hands-on skills, and work with families,” she says. “I feel very privileged to be here.”
Sarah Smith has joined the fundraising team as the fundraising and communications assistant. Sarah graduated from Cambridge and worked for the Burton Addiction Centre before joining the Bobath Centre. She is excited to become part of the fundraising team, “particularly at such a challenging stage of its development. The Bobath Centre is a fantastic organisation and I hope to make many more people aware of the work they do here.”
Good luck to Bobath Wales who have opened their first charity shop in Whitchurch, Cardiff.
Up and running
The upgrading of the new Bobath website is finally underway as part of the development of all the Bobath Centre’s internet services.
IT co-ordinator Mike Veitch is working closely with staff on the initial stages, but insists that the results will be user-led. “We are focussed on designing a website that serves patients and carers, medical professionals, the public and the media” says Mike. “The only way we can do this is by asking people what they actually want from a Bobath Centre website and not what we think they want. So we will be relying on supporters to help us get it right”. The project is expected to be completed March 2012.
To receive Bobath bulletins online type in “NEWS” in the subject field of an email and send it to enquiries@bobath.org.uk
Bobath abroad
Therapists from the Bobath Centre travelled to the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid to attend the European Bobath Tutors Association Congress in September. Christine Barber, director of therapy services presented her paper Aspects for the wellbeing of children with cerebral palsy – Perspectives of physical therapy, on the final day.
North and south of the border
Bobath consultant, Virginia Knox, returned to her Northern Ireland roots to lead a course on the Gross Motor Function Measure for 24 therapists, and a Bobath introductory course for 30 therapists in Belfast. Yolly Broek, a Bobath senior speech & language therapist, travelled to Wicklow at the request of Enable Ireland to run a speech & language introductory course for Irish therapists. The Bobath Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy does not directly endorse or recommend products or services advertised in Bobath News. We advise that you speak to your Bobath therapist before purchasing a therapy-related product or service.
Contact us Editor - Kevin Gillespie Assistant editor - Sarah Smith
Editorial and advertising enquiries: 020 8442 2276 or email kevin.gillespie@bobath.org.uk 250 East End Road, London N2 8AU 020 8444 3355 Bobath Centre for Children with Cerebral Palsy, Registered charity 229663 Bobath Centre for Adults with Neurological Disability, Registered charity 1039162. ©The Bobath Centre 2010
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Small is bountiful
Like many small charities, we find it difficult to be heard amid the noise made by the major charities with their vast marketing budgets and PR clout (not that we’re bitter!).
So when the Foundation for Social Improvement created Small Charities Week to raise the profile of the sector we jumped at the opportunity to join in. The FSI supports small charities across the UK to build happier, safer and more supportive communities. They provide free training and advice so that small charities can be better at what they do. During the week, the foundation organised a number of awareness-raising events that included turning the London Eye purple and launching a raffle with the winner receiving a Mini First, a prize way beyond the means of most small charities.
They also challenged organisations to come up with a pithy slogan that would persuade eBay users to donate online. The Bobath Centre was one of three winners and featured on eBay for a week resulting in over £3,000 in online donations. Many of those sellers have continued to give a percentage of their sales to the charity long after Small Charities Week was over. If you are involved with a small charity and would like to join the FSI, go to www.thefsi.org
Mini Winner
The winner of the Great Big Small Charity Car Draw was Jill Graham who bought her ticket to support Daisy Chain, an autism charity based in the North East.
The raffle raised £69,560 for the 211 participating charities including £1,200 for the Bobath Centre. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket.
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Dad of the Year Congratulations to Bobath dad, Martin Brooks, who has won Bounty’s Real Dad of the Year 2010.
He was nominated by his wife Sarah who said “Martin is a loving dad to our daughter, Mia who has severe cerebral palsy and needs 24 hour care. Martin is 100% committed to her and is always thinking of ways to make her happy and enjoy life. He’ll stay up all night when she is unwell and will do anything to make her laugh.”
Martin said “Becoming a father is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I treasure every minute we spend as a family. Mia continues to inspire me every day and with number two just arrived I am extremely excited about being a father again.” After years of struggling to understand Mia’s needs Martin bought an iPhone and decided to put their ‘apps for everything’ slogan to the test. When he discovered there was nothing that suited her specific communication need he spent nine months developing his own app, iComm, to give Mia a voice and to help children with communication needs learn, play and have fun.
iComm allows Mia to point out pictures of food, toys, activities and other day-to-day themes on the iPhone using her eyes. Since it launched in Apple’s app store, iComm has been downloaded by more than 8,000 people worldwide. Both Martin’s apps, iComm and iSpy Phonics (an interactive phonics learning app) are available on his website which is named after his beloved daughter. www.miasapps.com
WINTER
Basic instinct
2010
(part two)
In the last issue we got a first-hand account of therapy students studying on the Bobath eight-week foundation course. We pick up their story in week five. Week 5:
© Bobath Centre
Course participants focus on speech and language therapy for two days this week, particularly eating and drinking. There are more neuroscience lectures, as well as an afternoon focusing on adults with cerebral palsy. Yvonne: Blown away by the speed and knowledge of Margaret Mayston in Neuroscience again. The woman has a super brain. The feeding sessions revealed lots of new, unfamiliar things Marcia: This week we had an essay to write – it is so difficult to fully cover a topic with only 1500 words, and demonstrate that we are grasping the Bobath Concept.
Laura: Really enjoyed the Neuroscience lecture. The Importance of Play was valuable, as it made me realise what an impact it can have on directing therapy and attaining motivation and enjoyment as well. The eating and drinking lectures were so interesting, especially because they were presented with such enthusiasm and passion.
Week 6:
The week begins with a day of Orthopaedics lectures, and course participants begin their second round of practical sessions. Speech and Learning Therapy sessions also continue.
Yvonne: Everyone is feeling at a loss with our new Bobath knowledge, which is definitely difficult to apply with severely visually and cognitively impaired children. Feeling the stress of completing the assignment; I want to see my kids! Marcia: This has been the most draining week ever, physically and emotionally. There was another assignment, an assessment of a new child. The children are more challenging than the children we saw at our last set of clinicals - the little boy we are seeing is so difficult to figure out how to treat.
Week 7:
Much of this week focuses on problem solving techniques, looking at clinical case studies of children with different presentations of cerebral palsy. Practical sessions also continue.
Yvonne: Better start. I passed the essay! Really enjoyed seeing our child at the school again – he has changed a lot and does new things! The week went really quickly, notice on the board on Friday afternoon – everybody passed the two SLT assignments.
Marcia: This week started off really well – the last of our assignments was handed in – yes! My partner and I had our workshop this week. I was more nervous than at the previous one – I found this child so much more challenging. The workshop was helpful, it gave us a new direction to work towards during our last few sessions.
Week 8:
The last week of the course is orientated to clinical treatment sessions and workshops at the Centre. There are dedicated sessions for course members to review what they have learned over the previous seven weeks.
Yvonne: Back to the Bobath Centre for our third practical. Told informally that all assessments were OK and everybody passed the second practical! I have to start planning for my departure on Saturday. I’ve had enough of the cold weather now – it is just too COLD.
Marcia: This week we were working with children everyday, however this time there would be no assignments resulting from it. The final day came and we were so happy. We all got our certificates and most people ran off to get home as they had been missing their homes for eight weeks. We shall see how successful we are in our practice with our new Bobath skills. Thank you to our students for their insights into Bobath training. In the last issue of Bobath News, Laura was quoted as saying that she “had never had the opportunity to study child development”. This should have read that she had never had the opportunity to study child development in such detail. We are sorry for the mix up.
Correction
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BOBATH
NEWS
A right royal run
The autumn sun shone in Hyde Park in October for the Royal Parks Half Marathon. We had five runners taking part in this soldout event, one of whom was Peter Cooke, a lawyer who has recently been co-opted onto the trustee board. Peter only took up running a few years ago but crossed the finish line in a creditable one hour 57 minutes. In the field was Rosalind Williams, an IT project manager with HSBC. The bank is match funding her fundraising pound for pound. Also taking part were Mark and Katie Harding and their friend, Justine Ellis. Mark and Katie have a special reason for running because their son, Archie visited the Bobath Centre in 2006 after he was born prematurely. Sadly, he died in 2007 and the Hardings have continued to fundraise in his memory. Together the team raised over £4,000.
Mum’s the word
The Bobath Centre is now a member of Mumsnet. Described by The Times as "The country's most popular meeting point for parents," the website has lots of tips about parenting generally and there is also a special needs section. To register, go to: www.mumsnet.com
Good neighbours
Who says people in London don’t know their neighbours? Hasni Suleman works at the North London Jamatkhana on East End Road, opposite the Bobath Centre. When he came in to ask if the Jamatkhana could make use of our car park from time to time, he was very impressed with the charity’s work. Hasni and his friend Mohammed organise quarterly fundraising dinners for local charities, and he decided that the Bobath Centre should benefit from the next one. On 15th July guests dined on delicious Indian food and enjoyed live Indian music for a good cause, and a £500 contribution was made to the children’s charity.
Recipes for success
Our thanks to the People Policy Specialists Team at Marks and Spencer who came up with an innovative fundraising idea this summer: an online recipe newsletter.
Beth Ryder, who organised the PPS team’s fundraising, said “we wanted to support a small charity and promote healthy living, so sharing healthy eating recipes seemed like a good idea. Each team member made a £4 donation, and in return they received a healthy recipe by email every day for a month.” Beth and the rest of the PPS team raised around £161 – well done!
All photos © Bobath Centre
Summer Events
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2010
Reach for the sky
Pets win prizes
Hannah Griffin and her colleagues are training to be Royal Air Force PT instructors. They took the opportunity to raise money for the Bobath Centre because she said, “It’s an amazing charity that does a fantastic job.” With a volunteer support crew providing food and drink at checkpoints, they completed the toughest of challenges in 24 hours.
Startlingly, even though nine out of ten people know who they would like to see their money go to, over 30 million haven’t got round to writing a will.
Well done to Course 81 at RAF Cosford for completing the Welsh 3000 Challenge, a gruelling 25 mile trek across 14 peaks above 3,000 ft! In doing so, they raised over £1,600 for the Bobath Centre.
Course 81, we salute you!
Nearly one and half million people will leave money to their pets when they die, putting them in sixth place as the most popular beneficiaries in wills.
Keith Barrett, chief executive of Unbiased.com who carried out the survey said, “an increasing number of people wish to leave money to charities or friends, therefore it has never been more important to clearly state your wishes in a will.” Probably the most depressing statistic is that over 316,000 people saw their estate to go to the government.
If you are thinking of making a will and would like to leave a gift to the Bobath Centre please contact a solicitor or speak to Kevin Gillespie at the charity on 020 8442 2276. Christina takes the controls
Reach for the sky 2
Bobath regulars James and Christina Loosemore took to the skies over the summer courtesy of the Douglas Bader Foundation which gave them the chance to take the controls of a light aircraft under the watchful eye of a qualified instructor. As the name suggests the foundation honours the memory of Sir Douglas Bader who lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931. This did not stop him flying and during the Second World War he became a fighter ace before being shot down over France in 1941. He spent the remainder of the war as a POW. He died in 1982.
A place of your own?
Our 2011 Virgin London Marathon guaranteed places are now full, but if you have your own place through the ballot we would love to hear from you.
If you are interested in taking part in another run anywhere in the UK or abroad we will be happy to find you a place. Look on the Bobath website or email enquiries@bobath.org.uk.
The Loosemore family are known at the Bobath Centre for their energetic approach to life. Last year James Loosemore set up the “Isle of Wight Inclusives,” a football team for under-sixteens with disabilities, with support from Portsmouth FC. The club has proved to be so popular that they are now looking to expand.
Videx excel
Thanks to our friends at Videx Security who recently held their thirteenth annual golf day in aid of the Bobath Centre. Bobath volunteer Danial Rickard, whose father runs Videx, was in the office to hand over a cheque for £11,391 to Steve and Jack James. “The event raised more than previous years,” said Kevin Gillespie for the Bobath Centre, “proving that people’s generosity hasn’t been affected by the recession.”
BUPA London 10,000 • 30th May 2011 • We have guaranteed places • Contact Sarah on 020 8442 2275 to register 7
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To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/ HappyChildren or complete and return the enclosed donation slip in the envelope provided.