Jane Pritchard and Dave Jennings from Aico with some of the staff and trustees from The Movement Centre.

Some of The Movement Centre team enjoyed meeting at Aico‘s fantastic new building in Oswestry and were given a wonderful surprise! The team kindly presented a cheque to the Movement Centre for £5,000.

Aico supports schools, colleges, universities, charities and community organisations to achieve their goals and to help build a sustainable environment now and in the future. By focusing on four core areas; Education, Volunteering, Business Enterprise and Charities, their aim is to give back to our community.

We cannot thank them enough for this wonderful festive gift!

Freya was referred to The Movement Centre and attended for her initial in March 2018.  Freya then went

on to start at course of Targeted Training Therapy at the end of August 2018.  Freya had a diagnosis of Crigler-Najjar syndrome Type 1, Kernicterus, Dystonia and Global Development Delay and this caused issues with head control.

Freya’s mum said “Before Freya started her course of Target Training Therapy she had very limited head control and could not keep her head in a midline position.

Freya’s head was turned to the left side and she need assistance turning her head to midline position and to the right. Freya is non verbal but very sociable and uses eye gaze to communicate. This was difficult to use as she could not turn her head to indicate what she wanted.

Just before her course of therapy commenced, Freya used an eye gaze computer and she couldn’t use it independently because of not being able to hold a midline position.  We had to hold Freya’s head in a midline position and she only tolerated this for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Seven months in to her course of Targeted Training Therapy, Freya got to use to an eye gaze computer again.  This time Freya could hold her head in a midline position independently and was able to use the eye gaze technology for 30-40 minutes with no rest in between.

Freya’s head control has improved and she can now keep it midline for long periods and turn her head

from left to right. Because of this her communication has come along and she is more vocal.

At nursery Freya can now follow what the other children are doing by turning her head and can also join in with their play more. With better head control, she is now using a communication board at nursery to choose the activities she wants to do”.

A course of Targeted Training Therapy has certainly had a big impact on Freya’s life. Freya’s quality of life has been improved as she is now able to communicate her needs and wishes and to interact with others by using eye gaze technology.  Freya is now able to turn her head and keep a midline position for longer allowing her to watch and learn from the world around her as well as taking part in many activities that she enjoys.

Freya is a very happy little girl who loves interaction and we hope that she continues to make progress in the future.

See what Freya’s mum had to say:
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We recently attending a Kidz to Adultz Exhibition to share what we do with various professionals and families. One group that we met were REMAP, who are a charity that helps people with disabilities, of all ages to live more independent lives.

As The Movement Centre supports children with movement disabilities reach their full potential, we though it was important to share some information about REMAP with the families that use our services.

Their network of skilled volunteers design and custom-make equipment free of charge, so we would urge you to contact them if you would like more information.

Read below about one of their case studies.

Five-year-old Emma couldn’t wait to start big school with all her friends from nursery. She was looking forward to learning lots of new things and eating lunch in the great big school canteen.

There was a problem though; her powerchair was too tall to fit underneath the school desks! And if Emma sat with her friends at lunchtime, she would be too far away from the table to reach her lunch. The company that makes Emma’s special powerchair doesn’t make a portable table to go with it. Her chair is also under warranty, so it can’t be changed in any way.

Fortunately, Emma’s parents approached Remap for help. Remap is a UK charity that helps disabled people of all ages to live more independent lives by designing and making customised equipment free of charge.

One of Remap’s volunteers custom-made a table just for Emma. It is large enough for messy play, and narrow enough that she can still reach her powerchair controls. It’s even decorated in her favourite colour! The new table attaches to Emma’s chair with Velcro which means her teacher can put it on and take it off easily and the chair’s warranty isn’t affected.

For more examples of Remap’s work, take a look at their website. You can contact the national office if you’d like further information.

Emma is delighted with her new table and is enjoying going to school with all her new friends. Would custom-made equipment make life easier for your child?

Remap contact details:

01732 760209

data@remap.org.uk

www.remap.org.uk

www.facebook.com/Remap.org

@RemapUK

Oswestry Rugby Club and The Movement Centre, are joining forces to attempt a Guinness World Record for the Largest Rugby Union Lesson. If successful, Oswestry Rugby Club would be the new holder of the record, which is currently held by Tokai University Rugby Football Club in Japan.

The Guinness World Record attempt will take place on Sunday 20^th October at Oswestry Rugby Club’s Rugby Minis Festival, being held on Oswestry Showground. Oswestry Rugby Club is hoping to have over 1200 people take part on the day, to ensure they are in with a good chance of beating the current record of 602 people. We are calling on the public to join in and get involved!

There will be a special appearance on the day from Shropshire born England rugby player, Kai Owen and the session will be taken by Ex-Wales player Alex Murphy. Warren, Chair at Oswestry Rugby Club said “This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in and we are urging local businesses and the public to get behind us and help us break the current record. It will be a great day, at our family friendly club. This exciting event will also promote health and fitness in young people and families, with all participants getting active for the lesson.”

To take part participants need to arrive at Oswestry Showground by 12noon on Sunday 20^th October. The aim is to get as many people as possible to take part but there will be an upper limit on the amount of people can be part of the record attempt.

The event will also raise funds for The Movement Centre and volunteers will be collecting donations from participants and spectators on the day.

We are delighted to be a part of this fantastic event and are really excited that there may be a new world record holder in Oswestry. This is a really special event for the town so it would be great to see as many people as possible joining us on the day!

For more information about the event contact Oswestry Rugby Club through their Facebook page.

On Friday 13th September The Movement Centre’s Corporate Partner Granite Search held a team fundraiser in aid of The Movement Centre. The team at Granite went out to their clients their The Day we DID (Drop in and Donate) event to raise vital funds. They are aiming to raise £10,000 for The Movement Centre in 2019.

The event was launched with a generous £2,000 donation from Sale Group. Our Chief Executive, Victoria Handbury-Madin visited Granite’s offices to received the donation from Peter Sale, Managing Director of Sale Group.

A big thank must go to everyone at Granite and Sale Group for their kind support. Granite  have a Just Giving page if you would like to support their fundraising, you can donate here. 

The Movement Centre were very lucky to have the opportunity to have a stall at Oswestry Show on Saturday 3rd August.

It was a fantastic day for us as we got to meet so many lovely people, raise awareness, and raise some funds along the way.

We were overwhelmed by the response when we asked for prizes for our tombola, have prizes donated by The Meat Man, Morrisons Oswestry, Sainsburys Oswestry, Stans Superstore, and many  more. We can’t thank you enough.

Also a massive thank you must go to our volunteers who manned the stall on Saturday, Jan, Corinne, Doreen, Angie, Alison and Katrina. You all did a fantastic job.

The tombola and our Name the bear competition went down really well. We also launched our brand new wristbands, and if you would like to support us, why not purchase one.

The Movement Centre needs your support and just a little could help us go a long way.

We can no longer access funds from the NHS for any of the children who come to The Movement Centre. This has put increased pressure on us to raise more funds to help support towards the cost of Targeted Training for the children who come to The Movement Centre. Our Chair of Trustees, David, who volunteers his time, has set up an appeal and has shared his story about what The Movement Centre means to him, his family and his son Stan. Stan’s life has been transformed since coming to The Movement Centre, where he took his first steps. Now there is no stopping him!

We now need to raise even more from kind supporters and donors, like you. There are many, many more children, like Stan, who we can help. As a charity, we can only continue to do this with your support. Please read David’s story and help support The Movement Centre to enable us to help children with movement disabilities to gain independence and a better quality of life. If everyone could give just a little it could go a long way to helping us achieve our goal.

David will be running the Lake Vyrnwy half marathon and there will be lots of other activities happening to help us boost our fundraising. Everyone at The Movement Centre would really appreciate your support. To help us continue our vital work and to read David’s story, please visit this Just Giving page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/davidvicary

Students from Moreton Hall, near Oswestry, showed off their artistic flair when it was taken beyond the classroom and into the community with an invitation to create a mural for The Movement Centre.

The art students were tasked with painting an image to brighten up the outside of the building, making it inviting for children arriving for treatment.

Moreton Hall Art Teacher Jan Miller was delighted with the challenge.

She said: “Working to a real brief was an exciting challenge and one that I was keen to involve all pupils in, from Year 3 to Year 9.

“We were keen to incorporate the centre’s kite logo and flying high motto as well as feature figures within a bright, bold design and to be all inclusive and welcoming to all families.

“Fitting the design around the windows was the biggest challenge, apart from the weather! Year 9 students painted in the rain and in the baking sun, encouraged by the stream of lovely comments from people working at the hospital and the patients visiting.

“We are just a little bit proud too, that our little drawings can have such a big audience and have an

impact for many years.”

Student Isabella Morris added: “We thoroughly enjoyed painting on such a large scale and delighted with the abstract nature of the mural.”

The end of May saw our annual Awards Party being held at The Venue, Park Hall, and many achievements were celebrated. Families shared stories, children collected certificates and most importantly everyone had lots of fun.

It was a great day, and it started with the most important bit- one by one the children were called up to collect their certificates for the achievements that they had gained throughout their course of Targeted Training. Being able to control their head, sitting unaided and even taking their first steps. Some of them even showed us their new found skills on the day, while others were a little shy!

Our Awards Party is all about celebrating the children’s achievements but it is also a time where families can share stories, meet other families, meet the staff and trustees of The Movement Centre, and meet some of our awesome supporters.

We also give out our Lady Trevor award to the individual or organisation that has made the biggest contribution to The Movement Centre. The lady who received the award this year has given up her time, put on in aid fundraising events, and supported us in spreading the word. Kelly Clarke has been amazing- helping at bag packs, organising a fundraising event, and is always shouting about us on social media, and while she is out and about. Our Chair of Trustees, David Vicary, handed over the award to Kelly, who was speechless!

The fun filled day continued with our children able to have sole use of the soft play at The Venue, Park Hall. Lots of fun was had, crawling through tunnels, sliding down slides, and causing mayhem in the ball pit. A lot of the new found skills our children had learnt were put to good use.

With lots of fun and play in the soft play, it was time for a sit down. Food was served and everyone helped themselves to a great spread of sandwiches, sausage rolls and cake. (Don’t worry there was a little healthy food too!).

On to some more fun with Titanium Terri. The children (and adults) were amazed my the Fun Science experiments. We had fire, slime, balloons, little explosions, and “elephant toothpaste”. Everyone had a great time.

The day was captured with photos and a video. A massive thank you must go to Ann Lewis and Lauren Williams for giving up there time to support us on the day. Also, thank you must go to The Venue, Lanyon Bowdler, Becky Griffiths Pugh, Fun Science, and everyone who donated to our raffle.

The biggest thank you has got to go to all of the families who make our time at The Movement Centre full of smiles, fun, laughter, and a great sense of pride!