Therapies Unite carries out its purposes through 4 programs which all focus on improving the physical and _/_ or mental health and general well-being of individuals with disabilities. The programs combine working directly with individuals with disabilities through services provided by Therapies Unite as well as sign-posting to additional community services. Therapies Unite works with family members, health care professionals and carers working within the field of disabilities to educate, empower and improve existing local services. _W_ e also focus on the wider communities, promoting and celebrating the achievements of individuals with disabilities, providing opportunities for work and recreational activities and improving integration into society. Therapies Unite strives to achieve positive changes that are long lasting and sustainable by the local community. 

## **Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)** 

The 4 programs which enable us to meet our purposes are outlined as follows 

• **Catrin’s Penguins:** Catrin’s Penguins is an Aquatic Therapy service that incorporates a specialist form of therapy (Halliwick) to teach water safety and swimming to people with disabilities. We work directly with parents who deliver the therapy to their child under the guidance of trained volunteers. The therapy comprises a combination of Aquatic Therapy and Halliwick therapy which is delivered based on the needs of the individual. Therapy sessions are completed in large groups and involve different games and activities designed to teach children and adults how to control their body positions and breathing in the water. Training is offered to volunteers and new parents to enable them to feel confident in the water and maximise the effect of the therapy for their child. Service users who learn how to swim are then supported to join a local disability sport group and provided with further specialist swimming training. 

**• Catrin’s Centre:** This service provides professional evaluation and provision, where possible, of specialist equipment for people with disabilities. The clinic is run once a week by two local physiotherapists and a wheelchair technician and on average 3 people are seen a week. The service focuses on providing equipment for children and adults with complex postural needs. It also caters for children, adults and their families who need advice, education, support and aids such as crutches, walking frames and occupational therapy equipment. In addition, families are able to 



attend for up to 4 sessions with the physiotherapist and receive a personal home exercise program and advice for working with their child. All the equipment we use has been donated from the UK and is checked and repaired if needed. Once the family has finished with the equipment it can be returned, cleaned and serviced and then is ready to re-donate again. Appropriate Paper Technology (APT) is also used at the clinic, which is a cost-effective way to produce various specialist seating and therapy items out of paper and cardboard. Items such as moulded seats that fit onto a normal wheelchair, tables for wheelchairs, standing frames, sleep support systems, therapy equipment, booster seats and splints can all be made from cardboard. These are all very important pieces of equipment that can be given to children from a young age that will greatly reduce the risk of them developing deformities and aid with physical, mental and sensory development. The majority of families cannot afford to buy these pieces of equipment and Therapies Unite are unable to fund them for every child. Using APT keeps costs to a minimum as specialist equipment is not required and materials are cheap/free and available locally. 

Our clinic team can also visit local centres, schools and organisations that work with children and adults with disabilities to assist them with postural management. They work directly with staff and parents to provide education as well as run satellite clinics to repair wheelchairs and seating equipment as well as donate new equipment where needed. 

**• Courses and education sessions:** we respond to the needs of the local community (both professionals and non-professionals/families) by running various courses and workshops. We offer various courses for free (with and without formal qualifications) relating to relevant topics which have been requested locally as well as offering courses in areas that we feel may be of benefit to the local community. We offer support after the course has finished to assist with implementation of learning and new skills. 

**• Volunteering Program:** We are able to offer qualified healthcare professionals a volunteer program that is tailored to their individual skills. Volunteers select which of our projects they would like to work depending on their experience and skill level as well as being able to work in additional external community projects. In addition to our Volunteer Program we also have a 5-week credit bearing physiotherapy placement with Keele University and an UK based Internship Program run in conjunction with Santander and Keele University. 



The Covid-19 Pandemic impacted greatly on our face to face clinical services throughout 2020-21. In the initial wave of the pandemic we suspended all services and switched to virtual assessments/support. Our team in Mexico focused on connecting with the service users who normally attend our clinics to find out if they required any additional support. We disseminated information to parents about how they could support their child at home with therapy (Posture Care Guide, Stretching and Positioning Guides, Staying Active Guides, Chest and Physical Health Guides) and continued to assess new referrals to the posture care service via the phone. These were then added to a wait list in preparation for our services re-opening. 

Although the break in work was difficult for our team, it did give them a chance to evaluate the services they run as well as complete some personal reflection. This has been a really useful exercise in planning how best to move forwards and has helped unite the team more. 

The safety of our team and vulnerable service users and their families has been paramount. Wherever possible we are making our therapy clinics and sessions Covid safe. This has been challenging as we have had to completely change the way we run our sessions, but our team has gone the extra mile and adapted so well. It has been wonderful to see our familiar service users return as well as help many new individuals. Covid-19 has had a tremendous impact on the disabled community in Puerto Vallarta and they need our support now more than ever. 

## **Catrins Penguins** 

We were able to re-start our sessions in March 2021 after nearly a year of being closed. In order to prepare for re-starting we invested a £1,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Audley into purchasing new therapy equipment, uniforms and training courses for our staff. 

The sessions were run weekly by our two physiotherapists and a qualified Hallwicik Instructor and split into two groups, one for children and one for adults.  On average we had 10 attendees per group per week. 

We continued to train the parents and carers who attended the session in the various techniques and provide ideas for activities and exercises they can deliver with their child in the water. 

## **Catrins Centre** 

In September we finally managed to release our equipment that had been shipped from the UK out of Mexican customs. This was no easy feat and the added pressure of the pandemic did not help matters. The donated equipment, including many fantastic specialist wheelchairs, standing frames, sleep systems and walking aids, 



was transported to our brand new clinic in November after kindly being stored by the local Red Cross. 

The new clinic has enough space for the equipment, assessment area and workshop. The clinics opened on a Tuesday, run by three members of the local team; two physio and a technician. We were restricted with numbers due to Covid-19 and therefore saw 2-3 people per week. 

Children and adults who attended their reviews were assessed by our Senior Physiotherapist & given advice & specially adapted equipment where necessary/possible. In total we were able to review 26 people in the clinic over the course of 4 months. 

In the UK our director, Laura, continued to develop plans for our postural service and ideas for the development of a postural pathway. She had virtual meetings with local providers of services for the disabled in regards to this. She also had meetings with l similar organisations in the UK looking for support in developing this project further. 

We continued to work with local organisations in Puerto Vallarta specialising in treating disabled children & adults in Puerto Vallarta, including Pasitos de Luz & The Adaptive Sports Team. 

## **Courses and education sessions** 

In December our Mexico team delivered training to the local Social Services (50 staff members) to provide them guidance around issuing standard equipment. This was following our donation of equipment (walking aids (16) and standard wheelchairs (10) to Social Services. 

In March our Mexico team also completed some online training (via Zoom) in Aquatic Rehab for Orthopaedic patients. This was funded by Therapies Unite and hosted by Adapt-Taac. 

Laura also ran some training sessions with the Team in Mexico via Zoom focused on Posture Management for Adults with Complex Disabilities. 

## **Volunteering Program** 

Unfortunately our volunteer program and student placement was suspended due to Covid-19. Catrin Wynn Davies who was in Puerto Vallarta at the start of the pandemic and was due to be there for 6 months to help develop our services, had to return to the UK. 

Laura completed several zoom sessions with Keele University to promote the placement to prospective students for 2021 and interviews were held, with three successful candidates, but it was unfortunately the placement was cancelled. 



Discussions for a Scholarship at Keele University for a Mexican national to study Physiotherapy continued but it was decided that due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic this should be postponed. Instead we decided to use the £10k to start an Internship with Santander and Keele University which was planned to start in September 2021 for 6 students. The internship was focused around various topic areas including the impact of Covid-19 on the disabled community in Mexico. 

## **Events** 

Numerous virtual fundraising events took place throughout the year organised by our trustees and supporters. These included Quiz and Guacamole night and Salsa Fitness. 

Our team in Mexico took part in the International Day of People with Disabilities in December. This involved them being part of a parade and many of the adults and children we work with attended. 

Laura Brown de Rodriguez completed various Zoom Meetings Rotary Clubs in the UK to update them on the projects in Mexico and ask for more support. 



## **Therapies Unite Income & Expenditure 01/04/20 to 31/03/21** 

|**INCOME**|**April**|**May**|**June**|**July**|**August**|**September**|**October**|**November**|**December**|**January**|**February**|**March**|**Total Income**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|JustGiving||£617.18|£251.69|||||£48.85|29.23||£29.23|£58.46|£1,034.64|
|PhysioNet Donation||500|||||||||||£500.00|
|Norina Pauling||||||21.94||20|£20.00|40|20|20|£141.94|
|CSP Award||2600|||||||||||£2,600.00|
|Easy Fundraising||69.24||||||£39.73||||21.26|£130.23|
|J Wilkinson donation||20|||||||||||£20.00|
|Amazon Smile||22.7|||13.27|||8.14|||24.22||£68.33|
|Adapt Award|||500||||||||||£500.00|
|Pasitos de Luis Donation|||1598||||||||||£1,598.00|
|P Thompson donation||800|500||||||||||£1,300.00|
|PaypPal donation||||119.56|45.91||£98.40|||163.61|||£427.48|
|Global Giving||||||1557.53||319.27|||||£1,876.80|
|Cargo Services donation|||||||£713.64||||||£713.64|
|Rotary donation|||||||1000||||||£1,000.00|
|Eco Racing Fundraiser||||||||56.38|||||£56.38|
|S J & VJ Ball donation|||||||||£58.26||||£58.26|
|Ali Aries donation||||||||||6|3|3|£12.00|
|E Brown donation||||||||||||3020|£3,020.00|
|HMRC Gift Aid||||||||||||1116.3|£1,116.30|
|Total income|£0.00|£4,629.12|£2,849.69|£119.56|£59.18|£1,579.47|£1,812.04|£492.37|£107.49|£209.61|£76.45|£4,239.02|£16,174.00|
|**EXPENDITURE**||||||||||||||
||**April**|**May**|**June**|**July**|**August**|**September**|**October**|**November**|**December**|**January**|**February**|**March**|**Total Expenditure**|
|Staff Wages & expenses|£267.50|£253.37|£115.42||||£972.03|£444.68|£458.62|£560.52|£258.94|£835.58|£4,166.66|
|Volunteer Flight costs -  CWD|£600.00||||||||||||£600.00|
|Justgiving fee|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00||£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£18.00|£198.00|
|Customs Clearance costs|£2,247.81|£6,589.21|||||||||||£8,837.02|
|Translation costs|£53.85||||||||180.96|||113.86|£348.67|
|Foeign transfer costs||£15.00||||£33.55||8.36|£36.92|£15.00|£15.00|£15.00|£138.83|
|Public Liability Insurance||||||£409.72|||||||£409.72|
|Expenses||||116|36.76||||||||£152.76|
|Premises Rental Mexico|||||||||620.57|339.54|309.61|289.18|£1,558.90|
|Website Hosting||||||||||86.26|||£86.26|
|E Brown duplicate payment refund||||||||||||1500|£1,500.00|
|PPE Safety Equipment Mexico|78.5||||||||||||£78.50|
|Software|23.8||||||||||||£23.80|
|Total expenditure|£3,289.46|£6,875.58|£133.42|£134.00|£54.76|£461.27|£990.03|£453.04|£1,315.07|£1,019.32|£601.55|£2,771.62|£18,099.12|
|Monthly Income - Expenditure|-£3,289.46|-£2,246.46|£2,716.27|-£14.44|-£1,440.63|£1,118.20|£822.01|£39.33|-£1,207.58|-£809.71|-£525.10|£1,467.40|-£1,925.12|