Emma Brooks, trusts & legacies fundraising manager, Cerebral Palsy Cymru

“The Neumark Foundation enabled us to continue providing our vital therapy service to children with cerebral palsy in North Wales during the first lockdown, and the months after, when at the time our income had been severely impacted because of the Covid-19 crisis. We were able to provide 10 virtual therapy sessions to five children, aged between 18 months and 4 years old, and their families. It is particularly crucial that we see children aged between birth and 2 ½ as soon as possible as that is when we can we make the most significant impact due to the plasticity of the brain in the early years. The Foundation’s funding helped make sure that we didn’t miss this window of opportunity for those children under 2 ½.

“More recently the Foundation have funded a year-long specialist speech & therapy programme for a child with cerebral palsy in North Wales. Communication is a basic human need. Children with cerebral palsy may be very intelligent but lack the skills to effectively verbalise what they want, need or are thinking about. This can lead to intense frustration and a sense of isolation.

“The benefits of this funding are far reaching; a greater ability to be understood can open up a child’s world, reducing frustration and social isolation and enabling them to express their needs, demonstrate their cognitive ability and interact with their peers.”