Support and therapy can be essential in helping children with disabilities to reach their full potential, but sometimes it’s hard to find. One charity in the North East are working to make therapy more accessible for all.
We caught up with Amanda Tweedy, Fundraising Manager of Heel & Toe Children’s Charity, about the services they offer to disabled children.
When was Heel & Toe Children’s Charity set up and why?
Heel & Toe was established in September 2008. The charity was set up by a group of parents whose children had cerebral palsy. We were benefiting from conductive education therapy, until the provider pulled out due to lack of funding.
We started with just four children. Now we help over 220 children every week at our two therapy centres in Chester le Street, County Durham, such is the need for our services.
What services do Heel & Toe provide?
We provide FREE conductive education therapy, as well as subsidised physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech & language, hydrotherapy and massage therapy.
We also act as a support network for parents for guidance and advice on their child’s condition.
How do your services help disabled children?
These services help children with physical disabilities by improving their mobility and movement. In turn, this increases their independence and confidence, giving them a better quality of life.
We empower the children to achieve things they thought, or have been told, weren’t possible.
Tell us about your events.
We rely on our calendar of fundraising events each year, to bring in the funds needed to keep the charity operating.
We have a variety of sponsored events from kid’s events such as the Superhero Walk and Mini/Junior Great North Run. And we have adrenaline and team building events including Great North Run, Total Warrior, Yorkshire Three Peaks and Skydive.
We also organise corporate events each year including our Golf Day, Sportsman’s Dinner and Annual Charity Ball.
How has the pandemic affected the charity?
We suffered huge financial loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, totalling over £350,000. We had to postpone our fundraising events, and corporate and individual fundraising also ceased while the country was in lockdown and under restrictions.
What impact has the pandemic had on those you support?
We had to shut our Therapy Centres down completely at one stage. Many of our children regressed massively, due to not being able to come for weekly therapy sessions.
We were lucky enough to be successful in securing a grant which allowed us to carry out video therapy sessions. So later on in lockdown two, we offered this to parents as a compromise, so they weren’t left without any help at all.
Slowly but surely, we started welcoming children back. We adhered to all PPE and COVID-19 restrictions, to ensure the child’s safety was paramount. We’re delighted to now have all children and staff back to Heel & Toe.
How do donations help the charity?
Heel & Toe receives no government funding, so we rely heavily on donations from corporates, groups, individuals and grant providers.
We need to raise £850,000 currently to keep both centres running each year. So we’re constantly looking for new supporters to support our cause and help us hit this target.
What are your future plans for Heel & Toe?
We’ve just launched our brand new pilot Hippotherapy service, which has been funded by Awards for All. Hippotherapy is a physiotherapy technique based on the movement of horses, using the rhythm of walking to improve balance, strength and flexibility.
We’re also about to embark on the building of a new extension which will wrap around our current Hydrotherapy Centre. This will enable us to add additional therapies to our range, hopefully by the end of 2022.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Heel & Toe would like to thank Irwin Mitchell for their continued support over the last 10 years. This has helped us continue to grow and help even more children than ever before. Without loyal supporters such as Irwin Mitchell, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
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