Heel & Toe Children’s Charity, which aims to support children with Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities, are among the 40 organisations to receive a grant from the Venator Community Fund.

The charity plans on using the £250 grant towards specialist equipment that will allow their therapists to begin offering Neurofeedback Therapy to children with complex and profound disabilities in the North East.

Since its launch back in 2018, The Community Fund has awarded over £50,000 to different schools, sports clubs and other community based and non-profit organisations. The fund was introduced to support those groups who inspire both teamwork and innovation across the North East.

Jane Long, Development Executive at Heel & Toe, said: “The charity was founded back in 2008 by a parent after realising there was a lack of available therapy services in the area for his daughter with Cerebral Palsy.

“We started out in a small portacabin with only three children and have grew ever since. We now have a centre in Pelton where we provide a range of therapies for children with disabilities and complex needs. The services we currently offer are Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Conductive Education and Hydrotherapy.

“We were lucky enough to receive one of the community grants and we will be putting it towards new equipment to provide Neurofeedback Therapy. We currently have five therapy rooms and are also planning on expanding our Hydrotherapy centre to help support more children, so the grant will be a massive help towards that. We are aiming to get the extension complete by January 2022.”

Karen Fenwick, Vice President Corporate Branding and Communications at Venator said: “We were thrilled to award Heel and Toe one of the £250 grants. It’s great to know that the charity will be able to help so many more children and families with complex needs, by using their grant to add Neurofeedback Therapy to their services, especially in light of the challenges they have faced over the past couple of years.”