Movement Centre loses NHS funding
A charity which provides life-changing therapies for disabled children has had its NHS funding stopped.
The Movement Centre, based at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Gobowen, has been told it will no longer be eligible for NHS support.
The charity helps children born with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other similar conditions to regain control of their movements, in some cases enabling them to walk.
Last year the charity received £50,000 in NHS funding, which paid for the treatment of about 20 of its 74 patients.
The charity, which has been operating for 23 years, paid for the rest of the treatment through fundraising.
Chief executive Victoria Handbury-Madin said funding from the NHS has been in decline over the last few years.
It was told last month it would receive no further NHS support.
She said Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group had been funding children who received the therapy up until 2016.
And then last month the charity was told it would no longer be able to apply for funding from the Stafford and Surrounds, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire and South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsular CCGs.
The charity's chairman of trustees David Vicary, whose six-year-old son Stan is now able to walk as a result of the therapy, said the charity would be stepping up its fundraising efforts to ensure the charity would continue to provide the treatment.
Mr Vicary, who lives in Shrewsbury, said he would be running the Lake Vyrnwy Half Marathon on September 8 to raise funds.
He said the therapy his son received from The Movement Centre had transformed his life.
"Today Stan is a happy, very mobile boy, actively participating in life and the adventure of our family," he said.
"This would not have been possible without The Movement Centre.”
To sponsor Mr Vicary see the website justgiving.com/fundraising/davidvicary
