Therapies Unite carries out its purposes through 4 programmes 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 signposting 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 education & 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 programmes 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 focuses on posture management and provides professional evaluation and provision, where possible, of specialist equipment for people with disabilities. The clinic is run once a week by a local physiotherapist, physiotherapy technician and a wheelchair technician and on average 2 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 physiotherapy advice, education, support and equipment such as walking frames, wheelchairs and standing aids. At present, 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. We are currently in the process of reviewing and
updating this service and looking at how we can provide new specialist equipment sourced from within Mexico and focus on a holistic approach to 24-hour posture care. Our aim is to develop a local pathway so that individuals with posture care needs can be easily identified and reviewed on a regular basis and be provided with equipment, training, therapy and support to meet their posture care needs.
Our clinic team 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. We also fund external specialist courses for our team, investing in their growth and development.
• 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 Programme, we also have the option to provide a credit-bearing physiotherapy placement with Keele University.
Catrins Penguins
The sessions were run weekly by our two physiotherapists and a qualified Halliwick Instructor as well two local volunteers. We ran two groups, one for children and one for adults and on average we had up to 17 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.
It was incredible to see and hear about some of our Catrin’s Penguins graduates again, training with the Deporte Adaptado, just showing how much can be achieved if an individual has access to water therapy. There are five swimmers who are now training regularly and competing nationally with the team, all of whom learnt to swim with Therapies Unite. Sergio continues to be successful and has won silver medals in national competitions and is planning to compete at the nationals again this year. He was joined by three other graduates of our program at the Nationals and they all continue to train hard. Within our Catrin’s Penguins group Carlos was able to get in and out of the pool independently which has been a huge goal for him and Osbaldo and Dario also continued to develop their skills in being more independent in the water which has been incredible to witness as both are fully reliant on others for their mobility when on land.
Through using some grant money, we were able to update some of our equipment that we use in the pool and also purchase new uniforms for the team. We have also been supporting
some families who have not been able to access aquatic therapy due to financial constraints to continue with the sessions.
Catrins Centre
It has long been our wish and a key charity aim to provide all children and adults who need it with a high-quality specialised postural assessment and equipment required to manage their 24-hour posture care needs. We are in the process of working towards this aim and have some exciting plans for 2025. At Catrin’s Clinic, we aim to provide posture evaluations with our physiotherapists and where possible, specialist posture equipment (such as wheelchairs, seating, walking frames, orthotics) as well as the provision of education/home exercise programs. We also offer a repair/adaptation service to existing equipment. Our team works out of the clinic once a week, but they also complete home visits as well as posture reviews in day services and residential placements.
We funded our team to spend a week in Monterey at the Centro de Atencion Postura, which is a clinic that provides specialist assessment and equipment (wheelchairs, standing frames and support beds) for children with disabilities. They were able to focus on developing their skills in posture assessment, product selection, features and clinical reasoning for using modular seating and also spent time in the workshop looking at the processes of building/adapting wheelchairs. Following this visit we have been running a pilot project. The aim of this project is to demonstrate with clear evidence the impact that the right posture care input can have. Four children were selected for this project and have had a with a full posture review with a view to provide them with a specialist modular wheelchair, a standing frame (if applicable) and a positioning system. They will be provided with a 24-hour posture care plan and their families/caregivers will also receive training. Using the outcomes and evidence from this project, we are aiming to increase awareness of the impact of posture care as well as looking for companies, organisations and individuals in Mexico and the UK to start sponsoring children/adults for their posture care needs.
As we go into 2025, we are continuing to attempt to source more products locally. Importing used equipment is an expensive and often slow and difficult process. As Mexico moves forward, more and more items are becoming available in-country and so we are looking to support local and national businesses, reduce our impact on the environment and reduce costs by sourcing locally as much as possible.
We have been fortunate to receive some funding to invest in the equipment in the clinic which has improved the type, quality and speed of adaptations the team can do. This has included an industrial sewing machine for our therapist Laura, electric saw, new drill set and multi tools for Oscar and material and foam for making cushions/harnesses etc. Laura has been doing some fantastic work with the new sewing machine and materials and making items such as wheelchair harnesses and seat cushions as well as being able to create new wheelchair backs. Oscar is using all of his new tools and enjoying the speed at which he can complete repairs. He is planning to purchase some stock to keep in the clinic so that he can turnaround standard/basic wheelchair repairs quicker which will free up time for more complex repairs.
In the UK Laura, our director, and Gaynor, one of our trustees and clinical lead, attended
PMG annual conference to make new connections and spread the word about Therapies Unite. Laura has continued to attend training as well as had virtual meetings with local providers/manufacturers of specialist equipment. She also had meetings with companies and charities in the UK and Mexico looking for support in developing this project further.
Courses and education sessions
Training is one of the key principles we use to enable long term changes. We focus on providing education to our service users, their families, health care professionals, physiotherapy students and the general public.
Laura, Nadia and Oscar spent a week in Monterey at the Centro de Atencion Postura, which is a clinic that provides specialist assessment and equipment (wheelchairs, standing frames and support beds) for children with disabilities. They were able to focus on developing their skills in posture assessment, product selection, features and clinical reasoning for using modular seating and also spent time in the workshop looking at the processes of building/adapting wheelchairs.
Volunteering Program
We decided to have a ‘rest year’ in 2024 to give the team in Mexico some time to focus on the pilot project. Therefore, we had no students from Keele but are planning to have a placement again in 2025. However, we have continued to have local volunteers support our projects in Puerto Vallarta and building our community.
Our director, Laura is planning another trip in 2025 to spend time with the team and review our services.
Events
Numerous fundraising events took place throughout the year organized by our Trustees and supporters. These included a curry night, chilli and salsa nights, Salsa Dancing fundraisers, runs and walks. We have a confirmed place for the 2025 London Marathon too.
Our team in Mexico hosted a ‘Posada’ to celebrate all of our service users in December and we also took part in the parade and activities for Day of the Disabled and Day of the Child in Puerto Vallarta.
Laura Brown de Rodriguez and Gaynor also completed various visits to Rotary Clubs in the UK to update them on the projects in Mexico and ask for more support.
Therapies Unite Income & Expenditure 01/04/23 to 31/03/24
| INCOME | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | January | February | March | Total Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JustGiving | £1,103.52 | £1,035.87 | £1,071.96 | £48.45 | £545.11 | £519.13 | £107.87 | £1,105.83 | £120.01 | £104.93 | £981.91 | £6,744.59 | |
| Keele University Student placements | £3,054.70 | £112.74 | £198.70 | £290.00 | £3,656.14 | ||||||||
| DONR | £29.20 | £24.45 | £24.45 | £24.45 | £14.95 | £24.45 | £5.70 | £5.70 | £11.40 | £5.70 | £170.45 | ||
| Paypal | £122.72 | £122.72 | |||||||||||
| Salsa Fundraiser | £610 | £610.00 | |||||||||||
| Easy Fundraising | £49.98 | £61 | £36.05 | £41.41 | £188.80 | ||||||||
| Amazon Europe | £5.00 | £21.51 | £26.51 | ||||||||||
| Global Giving | £2,321.71 | £838.71 | £3,160.42 | ||||||||||
| Rotary Club donations | 600 | £600.00 | |||||||||||
| Individual Fundraising | 500 | £500.00 | |||||||||||
| Individual Donors | £3 | £6 | £6 | £3 | £6 | £3 | £6 | £53 | £86.00 | ||||
| Total income | £1,140.72 | £4,069.52 | £4,989.82 | £143.19 | £727.76 | £569.56 | £1,030.83 | £152.62 | £1,105.83 | £336.11 | £327.76 | £1,271.91 | £15,865.63 |
| EXPENDITURE | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | January | February | March | Total Expenditure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Project costs | £815.50 | £994.39 | £825.71 | £788.68 | £863.85 | £733.16 | £503.76 | £1,387.42 | £624.11 | £7,536.58 | |||
| Clinical Educator costs Mexico | £2,332.00 | £1,066.56 | £117.54 | £3,516.10 | |||||||||
| Volunteer uniforms - Mexico | £266.40 | £266.40 | |||||||||||
| Mexico Volunteers thank you event | £151.24 | £151.24 | |||||||||||
| Justgiving fee | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £216.00 |
| Director UK travel | £50.00 | £50.00 | |||||||||||
| Director Mexico Travel | £1,004.39 | £1,004.39 | |||||||||||
| Team Refreshments - Mexico | £66.15 | £66.15 | |||||||||||
| Gambling Licence (Raffle) | £20.00 | £20.00 | |||||||||||
| Foreign transfer costs | £47.28 | £37.68 | £38.29 | £38.82 | £39.30 | £37.20 | £36.57 | £72.70 | £31.18 | £379.02 | |||
| Public Liability Insurance | £560.96 | £560.96 | |||||||||||
| Trustee Business Cards | £29.28 | £19.49 | £48.77 | ||||||||||
| Paypal payment | £29.50 | 410.16 | £439.66 | ||||||||||
| Trustee meeting room hire | £24.75 | £24.75 | |||||||||||
| Trustee UK travel expenses | £72.21 | 439.76 | £511.97 | ||||||||||
| Total expenditure | £3,480.17 | £18.00 | £2,383.03 | £882.00 | £1,524.00 | £979.93 | £788.36 | £18.00 | £18.00 | £968.49 | £2,598.96 | £1,133.05 | £14,791.99 |
| Monthly Income - Expenditure | £1,122.72 | £2,606.79 | -£738.81 | -£796.24 | -£410.37 | £242.47 | £134.62 | £1,087.83 | -£632.38 | £2,271.20 | £138.86 | £1,073.64 |