Lord Lieutenant of Somerset opens new children’s facility

Release Date: 08/07/2011

Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Lady Gass will formally open Brainwave’s new Sensory Suite on Wednesday 13 July. Lady Gass, who is a Vice President of the children’s charity, will formally cut a ribbon to open this much needed state of the art facility in Bridgwater.

Christine Cryne, Brainwave’s Chief Executive Officer, said ‘We were delighted that our Vice President is making time in her busy schedule to come and see us and to meet the many people who have been responsible for making this happen. In this financial climate, without their help we could not have found the funds to upgrade our facilities. The Sensory Suite is such an important tool enabling us to help so many children with disabilities or Developmental Delay and the nice thing is, they see it as playing and not therapy at all!’

The Charity has considered carefully the needs of the families in the new design. For example, the number of children on a Brainwave Programme with a diagnosis of Autism has grown six fold in 2 years and the new Sensory Suite includes a quiet room for children on the Autistic spectrum.

Since 1982, Brainwave has been working with families to deliver home based individual therapies and exercises to help children with disabilities and Developmental Delay reach their full potential. That potential might be anything from a child sitting or walking to feeding themselves or counting. The children on Programme have a range of conditions including brain injury such as Cerebral Palsy, genetic conditions eg Down’s Syndrome, Autism or General Development Delay.

The new facilities were designed by Brainwave’s Educationalist, Rebecca Crump. It cost £10,000 and was funded by: the Brainwavers from Mere; S&C Builders from Lympsham, Somerset;the Young Farmers from Polden Hills, Somerset; the Fence Club from Cambridgeshire; Greggs Foundation; The Sir James Roll Charitable Trust; Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust and The Penny In The Pound Fund Charitable Trust.

Places on the programme are available for children at the South West Centre. For more information see www.brainwave.org.uk ; email: enquiries@brainwave.org.uk or phone: 01278 429089.

Contact: Press information: Jane Adkins, Tel: 01935 813114 or email: jane@aheadforpr.co.uk

Notes to Editors

1. Brainwave’s team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists development therapists and teachers seek to transform the lives of children with disabilities. By working with parents, giving them relevant therapy equipment and teaching them correct handling skills, they are empowered to actively participate in their child’s development.

2. Brainwave’s team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, developmental therapists and teachers seek to transform the lives of children with disabilities. By working with parents, giving them relevant therapy equipment and teaching them correct handling skills, they are empowered to actively participate in their child’s development. 3. Families are invited to the Centre for a two day Initial Assessment where the child is assessed and a Programme designed for the child. On the second day the family are shown how to undertake the exercises, which they then carry out at home, retuning to the Centre every 4-6 months when the exercises are adjusted. 4. Brainwave currently has over 520 families on Programme nationally. 5. See the charity’s videos at http://uk.youtube.com/BrainwaveCentre . 6. Brainwave uses mainstream neuroplasticity techniques in its programmes. Most of it therapists NHS trained.