• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cerebral Palsy Scotland

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Our mission and values
    • What we do and why
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • Vacancies
    • Key documents
    • Our centre
  • How we help
    • Therapy for adults
    • Therapy for children
    • Support
    • Training
    • Campaigning
    • Our impact
  • What’s on
    • Events
    • Annual conference
  • Other support
    • Support directories
    • Financial support & equipment funding
    • Advice from parents
    • Online support groups
    • Support for schools
    • Legal support
  • Get information
    • All about cerebral palsy
    • Children
    • Adults
    • Therapy & treatment
    • Oral health
  • News
    • News
    • Blog
  • Get involved
    • Friends of Cerebral Palsy Scotland
    • Raise money
    • Leaving a gift in your Will
    • Corporate partners
    • Philanthropy and major donors
    • Other ways to give
    • Other ways to get involved
    • Shop
    • Trusts
    • Our promise to you

Leanne Miller

Leanne is a UK Civil Servant specialising in corporate governance, major events operations and national security policy. She also has a background in the charity sector, having worked for Govanhill Law Centre, Amnesty International Australia and the British Red Cross.

Her son was born during lockdown and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of one. Since then the family have been involved with Cerebral Palsy Scotland and taken part in several fundraising events. Leanne brings to the Board her ongoing reflections as a Cerebral Palsy Scotland service user combined with her experience of public policy and UK government processes.

A life of Bobath therapy: Ewen’s story

Ewen and family

For Ewen McIntyre, soon to turn 60, the Bobath concept of therapy has been – and continues to be – a central part of his life.

Despite the challenges of living with athetoid cerebral palsy, Ewen’s life is full of friendships, fun and very much good fortune. Growing up in sunny California, Ewen continues to enjoy life and lives happily at Capability Scotland’s Upper Springland in Perth. And for the last seven years he has also worked directly with Cerebral Palsy Scotland in Glasgow.

Ewen, Ann and Donald
Ewen, Ann and Donald

Ewen’s parents, Ann and Donald, grew up as neighbours in Edinburgh and on their marriage in 1957 Ann joined Donald in the college town of Claremont, California, where Donald taught geology for most of his career and where Ewen was born in July 1961.

It was several months until they became aware that there was something unusual about Ewen’s physical development progress. In due course on a visit to a hospital in Los Angeles, this problem was diagnosed as a form of cerebral palsy. On explaining to the doctor they were shortly to be visiting Ewen’s grandparents in Scotland, they were advised to include an appointment at the Bobath Cerebral Palsy Centre in London, and in August 1962 were able to arrange a consultation with Mrs Bobath. They were encouraged by her assurance that the Bobath approach to physical therapy could help Ewen to progress if the family were able to make a return visit to work with her and her team the following summer.

Ann continues, “We were, of course, eager to follow up on this offer. Happily, when Ewen was two years old and thanks to a financial windfall, in 1963 and subsequent summers we were very privileged to benefit from these annual visits to London and enjoy and learn from Mrs Bobath and her helpful staff. Each visit in its own special way, was a remarkable happy and heart-warming experience.”

Ewen and Mrs Bobath
Ewen and Mrs Bobath

“Dr Bobath gave a strong medical background to the clinic and for both of them, Mrs Bobath’s work with patients and students was their supreme delight and a unique gift to families like our own who were adapting to life with someone challenged by cerebral palsy. As a couple, they had so much fun together, teasing each other with jokes and laughter while all their energy and interest was poured out on working in concert together to help their patients at their very busy clinic. And now sine 60 years on, this London centre continues to retain the Bobath name and its fame as an international teaching centre for physiotherapists.”

“In 1963, for us as new parents, these visits were always a time of learning, of interest, encouragement and pleasure as we tried to increase our understanding of how best we could help Ewen. And we were greatly cheered by spending time with other young families and adults with cerebral palsy who, despite their challenges, were able to live full and interesting lives. On some of our London visits we lodged at the home of a friend who lived just around the corner from the Bobath clinic, where the Queen’s horses went clattering by each morning while out on their daily exercise. Perhaps it was no wonder that Ewen himself came to be an enthusiastic horse rider and, in 1980, won an award at the National Cerebral Palsy Games in Texas, USA!”

Ewen horse riding
Ewen horse riding

“These annual summer visits led to a personal connection between our two families. When Mrs Bobath was invited to Los Angeles to deliver a lecture there we were greatly honoured to have the couple spend the weekend with us at our Californian home. We were delighted to share with them the fun of Donald leading us all on a geological visit to The Joshua Tree National Park. The unique and beautiful rock formations there were indeed of special interest to Mrs Bobath who enjoyed sculpture as a hobby.”

“In 1989, on Donald’s retirement from teaching, our family chose to return to our native Scotland so that Ewen might benefit from linking up with Capability Scotland’s Upper Springland centre here in Perth. This has indeed turned out to be an excellent move but some time past before we learnt of the existence of the Bobath Scotland centre in Glasgow.”

“So a new chapter has opened on Ewen’s life and our regular visits to the centre over the past seven years have become a highlight of learning and of helping Ewen to hold his own. He continues to benefit as well as to greatly enjoy his work with the skilled and patient senior physiotherapist and friend Philip Vervaeke, at what has wisely been renamed Cerebral Palsy Scotland. The therapy Ewen receives there is of superbly high quality. I would say that Ewen has a confidence that he probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. The lovely, cheerful way that Philip works with people, Ewen just really responds beautifully to him. And currently, in keeping pace with these difficult times, some helpful virtual therapy sessions are ongoing between Perth and Glasgow!”

Ewen at Upper Springland
Ewen at Upper Springland

“For Ewen as an adult, the object and the benefits from Bobath-style physiotherapy certainly succeeds in helping him hold his own by slowing the pace of further deterioration in his physical well-being. Ewen can sit up straight – though sometimes only on reminder! – he smiles and laughs his way through each day as a happy and physically comfortable person. And from the bottom of our hearts we are grateful to all who help him. For the important part which you play, a very big thank you to Cerebral Palsy Scotland!”

Tags: Bobath therapy, Capability Scotland, Cerebral Palsy, cerebral palsy scotland, Therapy

Annual Review – what we’ve been doing to help

Child playing

Cerebral Palsy Scotland has published a round-up of how we have supported people with CP and their families over the past year and a half.

Our latest Annual Review sets out what the charity has achieved between April 2019-March 2020. We have also included a section on how we have helped people over the coronavirus pandemic.

Between April 2019 – March 2020 we provided a total of 990 individual therapy sessions for children and adults with cerebral palsy, supporting people to build skills, confidence and knowledge of their condition. We ran therapy-led groups for people of all ages, hosted a national conference and trained health professionals.

We also continued our work looking at the state of mental health support for people with cerebral palsy and how we can use Clinical Psychology to enhance our own services.

Most visibly, in April 2020, Bobath Scotland changed name to Cerebral Palsy Scotland.

The arrival of coronavirus and national restrictions has led to big changes for the charity, but we are determined to keep supporting the CP community during these strange times. We are providing online information and videos, virtual therapy sessions, and have created a safe environment to allow us to provide hands-on therapy sessions.

Commenting on the publication of the Annual Review, Stephanie Fraser, CEO of Cerebral Palsy Scotland said:

“I am really proud that Cerebral Palsy Scotland has achieved so much over the past 18 months and helped hundreds of people with CP build skills, knowledge and confidence. Rebranding the charity has been a big step forward in raising the charity’s profile so that we can support even more people with cerebral palsy across the country in the future.

“As always, I want to extend my sincere thanks to the CP community, donors and funders for their continued support as we work harder than ever before to provide services for children and adults with CP.”

Download Annual Review 2019-20

Tags: annual review, Cerebral Palsy

Watch again – Conference 2020

It was wonderful to bring together so many people at the online conference to talk about issues facing people with CP, their families and the people who support them.

It was a busy and useful day even if we could not come together in person. We talked about COVID recovery, education, virtual sessions, employment and more.

We know not everyone who registered was able to attend, or attend all of the sessions and others are keen to watch some again. They are now available on our website here – Watch again.

The online exhibition is still live, please take a few minutes to have a look at films from partners too.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions or would like to arrange a free post lockdown session.

Contact us on 0141 352 500 or HERE

You can keep up to date on news and information by signing up for the newsletter or following us on social media.

Tags: Cerebral Palsy, conference

Thanks to funders for supporting our coronavirus response

Lockdown, shielding and restrictions have had a major impact on people with CP and their families. Many people are feeling isolated and their physical and mental health have been affected because of disruption to the support and services they would normally get.

Cerebral Palsy Scotland has received more than £6000 from two funders that is helping to provide support and therapy for people with CP and their families during the coronavirus pandemic.

We are delighted that Foundation Scotland’s Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund has given Cerebral Palsy Scotland a grant of £5000. Foundation Scotland are official Scottish partners of the National Emergencies Trust, which launched a UK-wide fundraising appeal in partnership with the British Red Cross to support local charities. Together with other funders, this money is helping to provide tailored “Post Lockdown Flexible Support Sessions” for people with CP.

These sessions are free of charge and available now. Open to children and adults, if there’s something in your life that isn’t going as well as it was before, you’d like some advice about activities or equipment, or you’ve noticed a change in your health, please get in touch.

These sessions can be done in-person or virtually – whatever suits you best.

And to help us deliver virtual therapy sessions, Yorkshire Building Society have given us £1676 to purchase two new laptops. Being able to buy new computer equipment has been vital in allowing our therapists to provide high-quality, specialist therapy digitally to people right across Scotland.

 

Thank you to Foundation Scotland and Yorkshire Building Society for helping us to continue supporting the CP community in these challenging times!

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 29
  • Go to page 30
  • Go to page 31
  • Go to page 32
  • Go to page 33
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 55
  • Go to Next Page »

Search

Quick links

  • Ways to give
  • Our mission and values
  • All about cerebral palsy
  • Therapy for adults
  • Therapy for children
  • Campaigning

Copyright © 2025 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cerebral Palsy Scotland logo

Cerebral Palsy Scotland
Bradbury House
10 High Craighall Road
Glasgow, G4 9UD

t: 0141 352 5000
Phone Number for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
Fax Number for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
info@cpscot.org.uk
Email for Cerebral Palsy Scotland
cerebralpalsyscotland.org.uk
Website for Cerebral Palsy Scotland

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
OSCR logo
Nationa Lottery Community Fund logo
Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service.
Functional cookies Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}