Challenges for Change: One Link at a Time
I set up Therapy Links UK in 2018 with the ambition to create something that could support statutory services, something that would provide exceptional levels of care for families, and something that was available to everyone.
One of the privileges of working as a therapist is that you get the opportunity to be a part of someone’s life, walking alongside them for a small part of their journey – and the impact you can make in that short time, can be life changing.
When you are a parent or carer, and you have concerns about your child’s development, the impact on your life and the level of worry and concern for the future doesn’t change depending upon your particular financial circumstances. But sometimes your choices do.
At TLUK we’ve been supporting children and their families for the past 6 years to access timely assessments and therapy that their children need, both for families that access our services privately and for those who require additional financial support. Over this time, we were able to provide over £60k of free or heavily discounted therapy to families in need of financial assistance.
How have we been able to afford to do this?
· Any profits we make as a company get ploughed back into being able to support our services
· We engage in creative income generation from hosting conferences, providing supervision to other professionals, collaborating on projects and providing consultation to other services
· Through looking for opportunities to fundraise
· By relying on those who can afford to do so, to contribute to their own cost of therapy making sure our funds are targeted at the most in need
There is no doubt that there is a large demand for therapy services for children – parents and carers are contacting us all the time looking for support. In response to this, we set up our clinic in our Community Hub in South London because we wanted to be able to create life changing moments for far more children on their journey.
This means we can support a greater number of children, including those who lack the financial resources to access private support any other way. We have now launched our “Therapy Support Fund” – ensuring no one is turned away from the support they desperately need.
Families like Zoe’s who were incredibly concerned with their daughter’s social, emotional and mental health they were frightened something awful would happen.
Children like Ahmed who at 3 years old had only acquired a few spoken words, and who was waiting for an NHS assessment.
A mum like Emma who felt desperate for support but didn’t feel she had anywhere to turn.
Our new clinic has the potential to reach so many more people like Zoe, Ahmed and Emma. But we can’t do that without the funding to support it.
Therefore, in order to enable us to keep delivering this essential service, we are launching a year of fundraising challenges. You can see my video to find out more.
Alongside our team members’ personal challenges, we are also challenging local businesses to become our “Local Legends” through donating or fundraising for us.
We are doing this because we know the impact a community can have when it works together!
We are so excited about this and want you to get involved in any way you can! If you would like to run your own fundraising event we can support you! If you are keen to join us in one of our challenges we would love to welcome you! If you are able to donate to us, however large or small an amount, all will go directly to our Therapy Support Fund helping us ensure every child is given the chance to thrive.