Provide a Posture Care Clinic for Mexican Children

Catrin’s Penguins

We re-started the sessions in March 2021 with new Covid-19 safe measures. We have had to introduce strict policies for the sessions and limit the numbers attending but slowly the team has built the service back up. We have two groups running once a week one after the other; one for children and one for adults. We have around 10 attend each session. Nadia, Laura and Mariano run both sessions. We were very fortunate to receive a £1000 grant from Audley Rotary Club which was spent to help re-start and improve the sessions. We spent the money on new equipment, uniforms and two Aquatic Therapy training courses for the staff which have been really valuable. One of the main aims of the past 12 months was to focus on staff training so this funding was really essential. It has been very effective in not only upskilling the team but giving them a boost as the pandemic has been really difficult and challenging for them.

We recently asked our Mums for some feedback of how the sessions were going and what was helping them and we had this wonderful response;

“The sessions have helped her to have self-confidence, to be sociable, to have more movement in her legs, she learned to stroke and breathe correctly in the water; for both of us it is a benefit since the session also relaxes us and it also distracts us.”

One of our regular attendees, Iris, who lost her leg in an accident three years ago, is now hosting her own radio

show about individuals living with disabilities in Mexico. She has improved so much physically and mentally from attending the sessions and finds the group so supportive. It really is like one big family.

 We had some incredible news in October, Sergio our original swimmer and one of our first penguins got into to the PARANACIONALES CONADE CANCUN 2021, and won 3 gold and 2 silver medals in his races. This was after he had Covid and had not had the chance to train properly. We are super proud to be part of his journey and really excited to see where he is going to go next, hopefully Paris 2024!

So, for 2022 we will be focusing on securing some more grants to hopefully try and expand so that we can offer more sessions. We would also like to fund some more training for staff and I will be doing some informal training whilst I am there in March as well.

Catrin’s Clinic

The clinic also re-opened in March but again with restrictions due to Covid-19. We moved to a new, larger premises where we can store the equipment and also complete assessments and have the workshop too.

The team have done really well in light of not having support from Catrin (our volunteer who was due to set up the clinic in 2020 and spend 8 months in PV) and no visits from me since 2019! We are really hoping that this year we can start to set up the clinic more formally as a ‘Posture Care’ centre but first the staff need some more training and we need to make some space and donate lots of the equipment.

The team are seeing people weekly and slowly working their way through the list of those most in need. The aim is to have the clinic set up to complete annual reviews of those with complex postures and provide equipment where possible as well as run educational workshops for parents/carers and professionals.

We will hopefully have an APT (paper technology) specialist come out in March to do some further training with the team in moulded seating, as this is where there is the most need.

Keele University and the Catrin Pickles Scholarship.

We have been working with Keele University and Santander to set up an Internship Program. Currently, we have 6 students completing projects for us in various areas focusing on health promotion, barriers in accessing rehab services for people with disabilities, the impact of Covid-19 on the disabled community in Mexico and exploring the challenges for UK registered charities raising funds during Covid-19 Pandemic. It has been a great experience so far as the students are very enthusiastic and creative, working hard to produce guidance, reports, materials and research which will really help us support and develop our services in Mexico. It is great for them too as they are learning lots of new skills and also get paid for their time as well as receiving money towards any relevant training or courses. We are hoping this is just the start of a long partnership with Santander.

We had the unfortunate news just before Christmas that the Catrin Pickles Keele Physio placement in Mexico had been cancelled for 2022. We had 5 incredible students who had been interviewed and selected to go. This is the third year running it has been cancelled but we are hoping that the placement will run next year and that these students will get a chance to come to Mexico at some point. The placement has been such a success and benefited over 22 students over the 10 years it has been running. We have had such lovely feedback about how much this placement has impacted on the students’ lives in so many ways, personally and professionally and we hope it will continue for many years to come.

Mexico Bound…(fingers crossed!)

I am planning a three-week trip at the end of March with one of the ex-Keele students who was due to come out in 2020 and a physio volunteer. We will mainly be focused on evaluating the current services, running training for the staff (posture management and aquatic therapy), running equipment donation clinics and re-connecting with the local Government and services that support individuals living with disabilities in Puerto Vallarta. I cannot wait to get back out there after three long years of not being able to go. The Mexican Team have been so resilient, dedicated and resourceful and I cannot wait to see them and our wonderful service users.

Catrin's Costal Challenge

The incredible Catrin completed 870 miles of the Welsh Coast Path in 10 weeks over the summer. She raised a massive £4543 for Therapies Unite which basically prevented us from shutting down in 2021. Catrin was a clinical educator and volunteer for us in 2018 and had planned to be in Mexico in 2020 for 6 months, helping us to set up our equipment and posture clinic. Unfortunately Covid-19 cut her trip way too short but we are hoping that Catrin will get out to Mexico again soon. She is such as asset to Therapies Unite and we are so very proud of her.  

A Final Plea

Like most charities we are encountering financial issues following the last two years of Covid restrictions and lack of fund-raising opportunities. We have had to spend significantly more on

delivering our therapy provision than we have raised from our fundraising and small donations combined. Despite our very best efforts to reverse our fortunes, and even with the continued generosity of our incredible supporters, we were still facing a real threat to the future of the charity. The reality is that we are in dire need of support with our projections showing we could well be out of funds by April 2022. Those that have been out to Mexico and seen first-hand the impact of our work will know that closing our services would be catastrophic for the disabled community in Puerto Vallarta. We appreciate that this is such a difficult time for everyone financially but if you can support us in any way with a regular donation, no matter how small, we would greatly appreciate this. Please share our charity with your family and friends and get in touch if you would like to support us.

Many thanks and best wishes

Laura

Therapies Unite Director