Donations of PPE allow therapy to recommence

Since the UK government announced the lockdown measures on the 23rd March, we have been working to provide a service to families across Wales living with cerebral palsy. Although we have been unable to treat children at our therapy centre in Cardiff, we have been able to provide therapy through virtual consultations to the families that need us the most. 

These sessions have been a lifeline for our families, however we know that sometimes it is important that a child receives hands on therapy. Each family is risk assessed by our therapy manager and where the risk of not seeing a child for hands on therapy is too great we will consider seeing them with the appropriate safeguards in place.

Our approach is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, a ‘virtual first’ one. However we are pleased that we have been able to deliver our first ‘face to face’ therapy session to a child and their family at our therapy centre in Cardiff. These sessions are being offered on a case by case basis.

This would not have been possible without kind donations of PPE for our staff and families to use. In particular, we would like to say a big thank you to: 

• MSS Group and Business in the Community Cymru for donating 40L of hand gel.
• St Joseph's Hospital for donating wipes and aprons.
• Brynteg School in Bridgend for making and donating plastic visors. 

A Message from Jenny Carroll, Centre Director.

On behalf of everyone at Cerebral Palsy Cymru, I would like to say a big thank you to all the organisations who have kindly donated PPE to us. This has enabled us to have our first face-to-face therapy session today with a child from Cardiff.  Without the PPE this would not have been possible as it helps protect both staff and families.  Hopefully today’s session was the first of many.

We would also like to say a huge thank you to Glenys Evans our Family Support Coordinator, Christine Atkinson our Therapy Support Assistant and Gini, whose granddaughter Lucy received specialist therapy at our centre in Cardiff, for making these beautiful face masks for our therapists and children to wear.

Below is a message from Llinos, Lucy's mum and Gini's daughter-in-law, who is thrilled that her family was able to help other families who will be attending our therapy centre over the coming months.

The therapy sessions we received from Cerebral Palsy Cymru have been nothing short of life changing for our daughter, Lucy. We will be forever thankful as their early intervention service has ensured that Lucy can reach her potential in life and have a brighter future. The friendly and welcoming staff make it feel like a close knit family, which has been a great comfort to us during our visits. The support and advice we have been offered have also been invaluable. Cerebral Palsy Cymru really does change lives. Thank you from the Waller family.