Flintshire charity make 5000th support call as donations received will be match-funded next month

A Flintshire charity’s virtual centre team have made their 5000th support call as donations received will be match-funded next month.

Staff at the Neuro Therapy Centre in Saltney are urging people to get involved by donating to help fund the services they are currently offering.

The centre started offering these online services in April due to the pandemic and as a result found new ways to help people, with plans to expand their work in the future.

“This year has been a challenging one for all of us,” said Jane Johnston-Cree, Centre Director. “The team really rose to the challenge and during the last few months we have not only created our virtual centre from scratch, but we have also gradually started to expand our virtual services – and from the feedback we’ve received it is clear there’s a long-term demand for this virtual offer.”

These virtual services include telephone support, online counselling sessions, multiple live exercise sessions per week as well as recorded exercise sessions.

“We have ideas for new sessions too, so we won’t stop here,” added Jane. “We have just made our 5000th support call and have had over 1800 attendances in our live exercise sessions to date.

“It’s been amazing how people have adapted, and they have found real benefits from the online services too. Our work is all about helping people to manage their conditions and stay living as independent a life as possible.

“Our virtual services are helping people who sometimes find it a struggle to visit our centre in Saltney due to transport or work commitments.

“When you live with a condition such as MS or Parkinson’s, finding all the energy you’d like to have to do everything you’d like to achieve can be a challenge, so removing the travel element from receiving these services can really help people.”

Clare Moulton, from Sychdyn, was diagnosed with MS in 1997 and has been attending physiotherapy and gym sessions at the Neuro Therapy Centre since 2018.

She has found the virtual services to have made it easier to exercise regularly.

“I usually visit the centre once a week, as long as my husband’s work shifts make it possible,” she said. “But through the virtual services I have been able to do the exercises three times a week around my work from home.

“It’s been amazing, and I can really feel the benefit in my strength from being able to exercise more often – I look forward to the sessions.

“The regular telephone calls are a real tonic too, it’s great to have that regular support from the Centre. It really gives me a boost!”

The centre re-opened in September for in-person services, but it will be next year before the same number of people will be able to attend on a weekly basis.

Jane Johnston-Cree said: “We intend to keep our virtual centre going alongside our in-centre services in the future, which is why we’d love as many people as possible to get behind our match-funding ‘Big Give’ campaign.

“It is clear that people are gaining new benefits from our online and telephone support, so we want to maintain these benefits and also explore whether these online services can help us reach more people who may not have been able to attend the centre in person in the past.

“We know transport can be a real issue, and if these services can help people who have been newly diagnosed and are still in work too that would be fantastic.”

Between noon on 1 December and noon on 8 December, the Neuro Therapy Centre’s ‘Big Give’ web page will be live, and they will match funds up to £10,000.

They also have an online Christmas concert with local artists Matt Violet and The Last Minute performing on 5 December where it is encouraged people wear a Christmas jumper and donate to the site during the week.

Shannah Goodrick, Corporate & Community Fundraiser, said: “With this campaign being near Christmas we wanted to make it as fun as possible.

“We’d love to see pictures of people wearing their Christmas jumpers, with extra kudos if it’s in one of our logo colours too!

“If people have been working from home they could donate their commute or what they would have spent at their Christmas Party.

“Our virtual services have received such positive feedback; this is a wonderful opportunity to raise the money so that they continue in the future.”

The Neuro Therapy Centre supports people with neurological conditions including MS, Parkinson’s, ME and MND across Cheshire, North Wales and the Wirral.

If people would like to donate to the Neuro Therapy Centre, visit: https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a051r00001fGxAUAA0.

If people would like to find out more about their services or book a ticket for the Christmas Concert, visit: https://www.neurotherapycentre.org/.