If you agree that it's about time conductive education settings in the UK got together to make our presence felt, then here's some welcome news. From the website of The Whitehouse Consultancy:
Whitehouse announces REACH as its pro-bono client for 2013-14
After a highly competitive application process, The Whitehouse Consultancy has announced that its pro bono client for the next 12 months will be REACH, a consortium incorporating ten of the leading specialist centres working with children with cerebral plasy across the UK - including PACE in Buckinghamshire.
REACH is determined to make big strides in the quality of life for childrn with cerebral plasy and to tackle the specific issues which they and their families face.
REACH will be working with Whitehouse with the aim of achieving a number of goals over our 12 month partnership including:
- increasing awareness of the issues facing children with cerebral palsy;
- the development of a national multi-agency cerebral palsy strategy and task force which will
- seek to eradicate the postcode lottery for cerebral palsy provision across the UK
- ensure the availability of and apprpriate funding for life-changing early and intensive intervention for children with cerebral palsy
- ensure improved training for professionals working with children with cerebral palsy.
Managing Director Chris Whitehouse said:
Whitehouse is delighted to be working with REACH on this important project, with the aim of transforming the policy landscape for cerebral palsy in the UK."
A few words of explanation:
Firstly, for those who may not know, PACE is a wholly separate organisation from Paces Sheffield.
The application to The Whitehouse Consultancy was led by PACE and I was pleased to be invited to be part of the team led by PACE CEO Amanda Richardson shortlisted to make a presentation to Whitehouse.
REACH is the name adopted for the consortium for the application. Endorsing the application were the following conductive education settings (alphabetically):
- Legacy Rainbow House, Ormskirk
- London Centre for Children with CP
- Megan Baker House, Herefordshire
- National Institute for Conductive Education, Birmingham
- PACE, Aylesbury
- Paces Sheffield, South Yorkshire
- Percy Hedley, Newcastle
- Rainbow Centre, Fareham
- Steps, Loughborough
- Stick'n'Step, Merseyside
The impetus for REACH goes back to the lunch gathering at Yorkshire Sculpture in November 2012 organised by Paces and the later gathering in May 2013 at PACE. The next gathering is already set for 14th November 2013 and no doubt there will be much to talk about following this success.
"The Whitehouse Consultancy team works with clients to inform political and public debate and to influence policy development."
One of Whitehouse's current clients is the National Association of Independent Special Schools and Non-Maintained Special Schools (NASS) of which both Paces Sheffield and Percy Hedley are members. Claire Dorer in an email to me wrote of Whitehouse "For a small organisation like NASS, they are like having several extra members of staff. They have made a huge difference to our ability to lobby and respond to consultations."
There is much discussion to be had, of course, but I have no doubt that this is a huge opprtunity for conductive education in the UK, as Chris Whitehouse says, "with the aim of transforming the policy landscape for cerebral palsy in the UK."
