The Rainbow Centre in Fareham, Hampshire, was founded by a small group of parents in 1990, with the aim of providing support to their own children with Cerebral Palsy. In the 30+ years since its inception, the centre has grown enormously and provided invaluable support to a huge number of children and adults with Cerebral Palsy as well as other neurological conditions, including acquired brain injuries, through Conductive Education (“CE”). Ruth Meyer, Head of our Court of Protection Team, and I had the opportunity to visit The Rainbow Centre on 16 January and meet with Eniko Kocsis, Service Manager of their Children’s Service. Eniko was kind enough to show us around and explain a little about the benefits of CE. CE takes a holistic approach to helping children and adults achieve their maximum potential. Practitioners of CE, called Conductors, complete a four-year degree course in which they study neurology, disability, physiology, psychology, education, teaching, rehabilitation and motor learning. They plan programmes for their clients to support them in overcoming movement problems and increasing their level of ability, usually in small groups of up to five people with similar needs. The positive and inclusive attitude at the heart of conductive education helps to make The Rainbow Centre a warm and welcoming place to receive support for people of all ages, from pre-school children through to older adults experiencing conditions such as Parkinson’s. A client, whose daughter attended The Rainbow Centre’s pre-school aged programme for several years, spoke very positively of their work, saying: “The Rainbow Centre has made a huge difference to our lives whilst my daughter attended it. She has benefited greatly from the physical activities and conductive education they propose. What she particularly enjoyed was the versatile environment and the singing and instruments playing which were rigorously part of the daily routine. I believe this has contributed to instilling a love for music into my daughter. Both the conductors and the additional staff working at the Rainbow Centre always supported us holistically.” As a registered charity, The Rainbow Centre has to generate the vast majority of its own funding. They receive no government funding and rely on donations and support from individuals, businesses, foundations and organisations, as well as what they can raise from their own fundraising events etc. Over the coming year they will be holding a golf day, a casino night, an Alpaca networking event, and participating in an inflatable 10k, among other events. If you would like to get involved with any of the events The Rainbow Centre is holding, raise funds on their behalf, offer your time as a volunteer, or help them out with a donation from you or your business, please visit their website, where you can find out how to get involved. For some children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (“EHCP”) in place, it may be possible to secure funding for CE provision via their EHCP. If you think this may apply to your child, please get in touch with James Pantling-Skeet, our team’s Community Care & SEN specialist, who can advise on the process of obtaining this kind of funding for your child. Our Court of Protection team at Boyes Turner has the specialist knowledge to support and advise clients in the most inclusive and person-centred way possible. For further information, please contact the Court of Protection team on 0800 124 4845 or email us.
