Brainwave chooses Dawlish to open its twentieth charity shop

On the 6 August 2010, Brainwave will open its twentieth charity shop and has chosen the popular seaside town of Dawlish for its location. The shop is at Richmond Place, Dawlish, EX7 9LT and Brainwave has appointed locally based Amanda Sainsbury as Shop Supervisor. The shop will be traditional in style, only stocking donations of clothing, books, bric a brac and furniture from local residents and businesses. If you would like to donate goods for the store, please call Amanda on 01308 867984/ 07515 586164 to arrange collection. National charity Brainwave provides home based therapy programmes for children with cerebral palsy and other conditions such as development delay. The charity was founded in the South West and has its head office in Bridgwater, Somerset. Christine Cryne, Brainwave’s Chief Executive Officer, said “Enquiries to Brainwave about our services have been growing at 30% a year and we have almost doubled the number of families on our Programmes in five years. We receive no funding from Government and so our shops are a really important source of income that helps us to provide our Programmes to hundreds of children. We are certain that the people of Dawlish will support our traditional charity shop both by shopping there and by donating goods to us. We like our shops to be part of the local community and it provides an additional service as it’s a great way of recycling for a good cause!” Brainwave welcomes volunteers of all ages and background to help in running the shop. Volunteering provides a social activity in addition to helping a small charity. Brainwave was established in 1982 in Bridgwater, Somerset but over the last few years it has expanded to have two additional Centres (Witham, Essex and Warrington, Cheshire) and to run outreach clinics in Ireland and Scotland. It chose to open new Centres so as to take its services to the families, reducing the amount of travelling the families have to do. The Charity works with families to deliver individual, home based therapy and exercises for children with disabilities and Development Delay to reach their full potential. This can be anything from walking to recognising numbers. The charity looks after a whole range of children with conditions including Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome and Autism. Places on the programme are available for children at the South West Centre. Editor’s notes 1. Brainwave’s team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists development therapists and teachers seek to transform the lives of children with disabilities. By working with parents, giving them relevant therapy equipment and teaching them correct handling skills, they are empowered to actively participate in their child’s development. 2. Families are invited to the Centre for a two day Initial Assessment where the child is assessed and a programme designed for the child. On the second day the family are shown how to undertake the exercises, which they then carry out at home, retuning to the Centre every 4-6 months when the exercises are adjusted. 3. Brainwave currently has over 500 families on Programme and the enquiries are growing at 30%. 4. See the charity’s video at http://uk.youtube.com/BrainwaveCentre . 5. Brainwave uses mainstream neuroplasticity techniques in its programmes. Its Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists are NHS trained.

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