Footsteps Foundation - UK
Maximising the potential of disabled children
Footsteps Foundation has the mission to improve the quality of life for children and young adults affected by neurological disorders, enabling them to receive the intensive physiotherapy they need regardless of whether their parents can afford private treatment or not.
Years: 2019, 2020, 2021
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While intensive physiotherapy is fundamental to the rehabilitation and long-term development of children and young adults affected by neurological disorders, they typically receive one hour of physiotherapy each month and their parents have to find enough money to fund private therapy if they have any chance of sustaining their child’s development. However, the cost of private physiotherapy is beyond the means of many families with disabled children, the majority of whom are already financially restrained. As the Department of Health states in their National Service Framework for Children, ‘Around 55 per cent of families with disabled children have a low income’ and at the same time, ‘It has been estimated that the annual costs of bringing up a disabled child are three times greater than those for a child who is not disabled’. Therefore, many of the children who need intensive physiotherapy the most come from families who are least able to manage additional financial commitments.
Footsteps family grants project helps these families in need by funding a percentage of the cost of the innovative Footsteps therapy programme which provides a combination of mat work and the innovative ‘Spider’ therapy within a three week intensive block. The ‘Spider’ is a unique piece of equipment which originates from Poland and is incorporated into the Footsteps therapy programme to help strengthen muscle tone and improve balance, coordination and spatial awareness in disabled children.
In 2014 the ALMT teamed up with Corney and Barrow to raise funds for footsteps foundation.
In 2019, the ALMT committed to funding a three year relationship to fund vital hours of therapy for the young people who attend the Footsteps Centre.
