Hannah Clay, Head of Grant Programmes, and Alex Stewart, Philanthropy Manager, recently visited the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity, a local charity, providing free services for children under five with cerebral palsy and other motor learning impairments.

Sussex Community Foundation staff visit the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity

Whilst there, they had an informative chat with the team and were able to observe a session demonstrating the charity’s approach of combining physiotherapy with conductive education – and the young children present were clearly enjoying their time together!

One parent visiting the centre described the impact of these sessions on her two-year-old daughter as ‘transformational’. In just six months, they had observed changes in her mobility and flexibility, and in how she was now able to make positive social connections.

For parents like this one, the range of therapies offered at the centre, and the home support visits are an incredible lifeline.

The Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity received a grant of £6,458 from the Isaac Ganas Fund and the Rooney Foundation Fund towards running costs of their conductive education programme. Conductive Education programmes are task orientated involving functional movements or activities that are divided into small achievable steps covering all areas of learning from physical and communication skills to social skills and emotional wellbeing.

Image shows (left to right): Alex Stewart and Hannah Clay, SCF; Georgina Le Clercq, Trusts and Foundations Officer; Hayley Wicker-Bradbury, Fundraising & Business Development Manager; Istvan Agoston, Paediatric Physiotherapist; Jos Cuff, Family Outreach Worker