Cerebral Palsy Scotland

Celebrating our story – Disability History Month

Disability History Month is the perfect time to celebrate our charity’s history.
 
In the early 1990s a small group of families in Scotland had grown frustrated at travelling to London to get specialist therapy for their children who were living with cerebral palsy. Through their hard work, the Bobath Scotland centre opened its doors in Glasgow on 2 December 1995. You can read more about our story here.
 
Newspaper articles from the centre’s archives show the astonishing fundraising effort made by those families who successfully raised £1 million so the charity could open its doors. You can view larger images of the articles here:
Prominent among our founders was Allan Burns, who is featured in two of these articles. Without his tireless campaigning, our charity would simply not have existed. His passion, energy and commitment were central in recruiting like-minded families to the fundraising drive, sourcing funds, liaising with the NHS, finding premises and ensuring the clinical excellence of the new centre.
 
Sadly, Allan Burns passed away in 2019. Allan’s wife, Jeanette, and their daughter, Marion, are still closely involved with Cerebral Palsy Scotland.
 
During Disability History Month, we honour Allan’s contribution to Cerebral Palsy Scotland and the cerebral palsy community in Scotland, and send our gratitude to all our founding families.

Thank you – We’ve reached our Big Give target

Our Big Give Christmas Challenge closed on 5 December, and we are delighted to announce that our final total is £32,435!

It has been amazing to see the support for Cerebral Palsy Scotland. We are thrilled that your donations have helped to exceed our target of £30,000 in just seven days.

Fund a therapist – Your donation has made a difference

For over 25 years our therapists have worked alongside people with cerebral palsy, their families and carers, helping them develop practical skills which transform daily life.

Therapy is key to unlocking potential – your donations to the Big Give Christmas campaign allow us to increase our capacity, and support more people with cerebral palsy in Scotland achieve their goals.

Watch the video below to see how our specialist therapists at Cerebral Palsy Scotland will now be able to support more people with cerebral palsy – like Jack – to thrive.

We are so grateful for your ongoing support for Cerebral Palsy Scotland. Thank you.

Our inclusive Christmas cards are on sale now

As the festive season approaches, we are very excited to launch our range of Christmas cards for 2023, available to buy right now at our online shop. 

This year, we have three new designs of Christmas cards. Our ‘Christmas Skating’ and ‘Christmas Eve’ cards feature images that are representative and inclusive of people with cerebral palsy. 

Every purchase you make will help to power our work and support people with cerebral palsy make the most of their abilities. 

Visit our online shop

Key insights from the Cerebral Palsy Scotland community survey 2023

Between January-March 2023, Cerebral Palsy Scotland ran a survey in order to get an insight into what services were being used by the cerebral palsy community, how easy these services were to access, the issues that mattered to them, and challenges they were currently facing.

We also asked for feedback on our own services too. Our overall aim was to use all of this feedback to shape our own services now and in the future, and to make them as useful as possible to the cerebral palsy community.

Some of the key survey insights are below. You can read the full survey summary here. 

Adults with cerebral palsy are struggling to access therapy and other services

  • Of the 134 people who responded to the survey, 120 were adults
  • Adults with cerebral palsy reported they are struggling to access therapy – 43% said they were not accessing therapy for their cerebral palsy
  • Adults are also struggling to access other relevant services. Outwith Cerebral Palsy Scotland, 74% could not access psychological support elsewhere and 69% could not access social events elsewhere.

People want Cerebral Palsy Scotland to offer a range of services, and see therapy as our most useful service

Of those surveyed, 54% felt therapy was our most useful service. A majority of respondents said it was ‘extremely important’ that Cerebral Palsy Scotland offer:

  • Individual therapy (73%)
  • Psychological support (63%)
  • Information about cerebral palsy (68%)
  • Awareness raising about cerebral palsy (78%)
  • Signposting to other services (63%)
  • Campaigning on behalf of people with cerebral palsy (73%)

Lack of health and care services and support is a key issue for the cerebral palsy community

When asked, ‘What would be the most important issue for Cerebral Palsy Scotland to campaign and/or raise awareness on?’, 44% said they wanted Cerebral Palsy Scotland to campaign for more health care support and services for people with cerebral palsy.

Just over half (53%) of all respondents felt that a lack of support and services, including a lack of funding within the NHS, was the most important issue they will face in 2023.

Read the full survey summary

 

Kirstie Rees | Chartered Psychologist

Kirstie Rees is a chartered psychologist who is supporting the team on a regular consultancy basis. Kirstie is trained as a child and educational psychologist and has significant experience of supporting children and young people with disabilities, and their families. Kirstie has carried out research and has written papers and a book in this area and is passionate about supporting children and adults to develop coping strategies that enhance their mental health and wellbeing. Kirstie has worked in three different local authorities in Scotland and also works as a tutor on the MSc in Educational Psychology at the University of Dundee. Kirstie is  chair of the Scottish Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH).