Glenys' reflection

Hello, I’m Glenys, one of the founding parents who joined together to open a children’s centre called Bobath Cymru in 1989. Why did we do this? I’ll tell you …

The group of founding parents came together with the dream of opening a children's centre as we wanted our children, who have cerebral palsy, to have access to specialist therapy that at the time was not available in Wales. Many of us had to travel to and stay in London for two-week periods if we wanted to access these services, which was often difficult and expensive. We also felt there would be enough children living in Wales who had cerebral palsy to have our own national centre.

The idea for this children’s centre came from a conversation between my husband Bob, myself, and Paul and Yvonne Lubas, parents of Claire, over a BBQ in my back garden in 1989. As the idea formed into a plan, although still very much a dream at that point, we were joined by several other couples, and over the course of the next few months, we held talks with the trustees from the Bobath Centre in London who gave us the approval to proceed with our aspirations of founding a Bobath Centre here in Wales.

After having discussions with the Local Health Board regarding suitable premises for our children’s centre, we set up a steering group and in 1990 we launched the charity and shared the news about what we were fundraising for as widely as possible in the hope to raise enough funds to purchase and renovate a building. Initially, this steering group brought together 45 families who helped us take things forward. I remember everyone being fired up and feeling positive that we could achieve our goal, although a lot of people said we would never do it!

During the first year we set up regional fundraising groups across South Wales. We were offered a residential premises on Park Road, Whitchurch, for a peppercorn rent of £30 for 3 years. Not wanting for this opportunity to pass us by, I paid this myself to secure the deal. 

As a group, we then started the huge challenge of renovating the house into a therapy centre! We worked evenings and weekends and I remember our children playing in the garden of the house on Park Road while we were transforming it into a children’s centre.

Eventually, we got to a stage when some heavy work was needed and realised it was now a task that was beyond our capabilities, so we recruited help from Cardiff prison who loaned us some of the men who were near their date of release from prison to do a lot of the heavy work. They worked with us until the building was complete.

Many, many companies gave us gifts in kind including building materials, soft furnishings, garden landscaping, therapy equipment etc. and many others fundraised to help us. The biggest achievement that secured our opening was receiving a grant from BBC Children in Need for approximately £285K over 3 years. This funding enabled us to employ the staff we needed, and this was at the time, and remained for some time, the largest grant given in Wales. 

When the therapy centre first opened in 1992, we employed 4 therapists (2 Physiotherapists, 1 Occupational Therapist and 1 Speech and Language Therapist) and 2 admin staff. The first appointments were offered to the 45 children who joined us on a journey that would change my life forever.

Never in my wildest dreams did I really believe we would achieve what we have by opening our very own specialist children’s centre here in Cardiff.

My initial drive was to get the best possible therapy for my son, Thomas, and Paul and Yvonne’s daughter Claire, but I quickly realised we had set ourselves a goal that would help so many more children than just Thomas and Claire. 

The journey has often been a bumpy one with the need to secure funding always being our biggest challenge – unfortunately, these things never change and this remains the same challenge that we as a charity face today. Seeing how the charity has grown and become well established within the wider community of people in Wales has been amazing. I have remained involved with the charity since day 1 in many roles, including as a trustee and as a member of staff. I have had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing colleagues who are all so committed to the children and have driven the service forward.

Many of our therapists who work at the centre have come from all over the world and I’ve learnt so much from each of them. I feel very privileged to have met and worked with hundreds and hundreds of children and their families, all of whom have enriched my life and I remember them with great fondness. Many of the children who have accessed our services have gone on to further education, independent living, got jobs, got married, and had babies. Other just need our love and care, some we have lost along the way, but they have not been forgotten and all have touched my heart.

I do feel like a granny at times these days when I see how some of the children have grown up and I hear about what they have achieved, but it is wonderful, and I hope I have helped them in some way.

Since the launch of our early intervention service, Better Start, Better Future in 2015, I have been very involved with all the babies who attend the centre and again I hope it has helped those families to have the support and therapy available to them so much earlier than when my son Thomas was a baby. I think that is one of the biggest and most positive changes that I have seen over the past 35 years. In the past, too often children weren’t getting referred for therapy until around the age of 18-24months, now we are working with babies, some as young as term age, others 2 or 3 months old, through our early intervention service. This is so beneficial for the baby, but also for the parents to get good therapy, information and support. That was what I wanted and needed as a young mother, and I’m so glad we can in part offer that to the families who are now referred to our services. 

The charity has been my second family for the last 35 years and it is such a special place that means so much to me and all my family who have supported the charity all these years. My children have grown up with Bobath Wales (now Cerebral Palsy Cymru) and I am so proud of all that Thomas has achieved while benefitting from the therapy at our centre. I can’t really believe that 35 years have passed, but I feel so proud of all that we have achieved together.

 It is now time for me to retire from Cerebral Palsy Cymru, and although it was a difficult decision to make, I knew that it was the right time for me to make room for my successor. Natasha Elliot, mum to Amelia, joined Cerebral Palsy Cymru in 2024. I know that Natasha will be there to help and support our families as much as possible, and I wish her well in her role as Family Support Coordinator.

I would like to thank everyone at Cerebral Palsy Cymru for the support that my family and I have received over the past 35 years. It has been a privilege to work with so many amazing colleagues, and incredible therapists, from whom I have learnt so much. I have met so many amazing parents, grandparents and families who have allowed me to be part of their journey with their child, It has been so special to get to know you all and to be involved in your journey and to see your children grow up.

I hope that you will all continue to support Cerebral Palsy Cymru as much as possible as we need to protect this unique service for children and families in Wales living with cerebral palsy. I am honoured and moved at the launch of the Glenys Evans Family Support Fund to mark my retirement. I am sure every donation made towards it will help protect our vital family support service, which is a lifeline for many of our families.

I never expected the charity to be what it is today when we started this journey 35 years ago. The most important thing that we can do now for the future is to safeguard the charity and be proud to have a centre of excellence for children with cerebral palsy here in Wales. Cerebral Palsy Cymru needs your ongoing support, and mine, to ensure that it can continue to be there for your children, and for those yet to be born.