The Heel & Toe Children's Charity
When was the Charity founded?
Paul Bannister decided to try to establish a charity to provide therapy for children with cerebral palsy after years of frustration in trying to find suitable therapy for his daughter Hannah, who has the condition. He decided early in the charity’s journey That No Child Should Be Denied Therapy Due to a Lack of Money’.
Heel & Toe Children’s Charity was established in June 2008. The not for profit organisation was granted charity status on the 4 September 2008 and the centre was opened on the 4th October 2008, offering free Conductive Education Therapy for any child with cerebral palsy in an annex based at the Meadows School in Spennymoor County Durham. The charity now delivers conductive therapy free of charge for hundreds of children with cerebral palsy from across the region and offers physiotherapy, intensive weekly block physiotherapy, speech and language, occupational therapy and Special Educational Needs tutoring (SEN), from our base at in Pelton near Chester-le-Street.
Which area do you cover?
We support hundreds of children with cerebral palsy and their families from across the North East and we have some parents who travel from North Yorkshire and over from Cumbria.
What type of fundraising events do you have?
We have a packed calendar of events throughout the year. We don’t receive any government funding, so we are reliant on the generosity of fundraisers and people donating to continue our vital work. Our events include our annual sponsored children’s walk which many of our children and families take part in, a skywalk in Keswick, a corporate golf day at Ramside Hall, Sportsman’s Dinner at the Hilton Hotel in NewcastleGateshead, 12,000 foot sky dive, Annual Charity Winter Ball, 160 runners in great north run, 300 children in mini and junior great north run, a cycle ride, endurance events including Total Warrior and Rough Runner, and Back to the Eighties night. The ideas come from our fundraising team and are often things they do themselves in their spare time, so everyone brings their family and friends and we aim to raise lots of money.
How do you get involved?
We would love to hear from anyone who would like to fundraise for us, they can contact our fundraising team on 0191 386 8606 or email info@heelandtoe. org.uk We also have different packages for people or businesses who would like to donate for example sponsoring a child or making us their charity of the year.
What have been the Charity’s proudest moments so far?
There have been many, our growth has been so rewarding to see how many families we are helping and supporting with therapy. When we started in 2008 we were in a portacabin in Spennymoor helping three children, and this has grown to 130 children a week from our centre in Pelton. Seeing the children achieve their milestones is also incredibly special whether is be crawling, walking, holding a pen, they are such important steps for the children and their families and give them such a boost that they can keep making progress and achieve their full potential.
What are you currently working on?
We are continuing with our main campaign, the Footprints Appeal, which was launched to raise £600,000 to build a Hydrotherapy and accommodation centre in Pelton on a site we purchased. The building will have a hydrotherapy pool for children to have sessions delivered by our therapists with their families, which is unique to the North East and very much needed. The pool will also be offered to the community to use.
It will also have therapy rooms, a Gait analysis lab, rebound therapy on a trampoline, and accommodation for families who are travelling from outside of the region. We are reliant on donations and we have been incredibly busy working on fundraising in many ways, so we can open our new centre to coincide with our tenth birthday later this year.
Tell us about your main trustees and patrons?
We have seven Trustees including our chair Paul Gilsenan, who are all successful local business people with a passion for our charity. They have combined knowledge and experience which they bring to their roles to guide us. We also have three patrons including Blackburn Rovers striker Danny Graham, Metro Radio DJ Brian Moore and Anne Wood creator of Teletubbies and In The Night Garden – who was born in Spennymoor – just like our charity – and wanted to be involved after hearing of the thousands of youngsters in the region who struggle with their disabilities every day. We also have a new layer of support in our nine ambassador who promote the charity in their professional positions and in their personal lives.
What does the future hold?
The future is very exciting! We celebrate our tenth birthday in October this year and we hope to celebrate this milestone with the planned opening of our second centre the Hydrotherapy Centre in Perkinsville. This will be such an achievement and make such a difference for so many children with cerebral palsy and their families.
