Supporting Clients in Need Through The Cost Of Living Crisis

The Neuro Wellbeing Centre provides a lifeline to people living with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions.

Social Need

Being told that you have an incurable neurological condition such as multiple sclerosis is life changing. Targeted exercise and support can bring hope, ease symptoms and help people to retain their mobility for longer. Tim Culling, Chair of the Neuro Wellbeing Centre, shares, “There are over 600 neurological conditions. For people with Parkinson’s, MS or fibromyalgia, for example, maintaining motor skills and preventing muscle wastage is really important, but the NHS struggles to find the capacity to deliver that kind of support.”

Organisation

The Neuro Wellbeing Centre was originally set up to support people with MS. However, the charity now sees people who are living with any neurological condition. It offers a specialist gym and a range of specialist equipment, such as an anti-gravity treadmill, that supports clients to regain or retain their mobility.

Many of the services that the charity offers are not available on the NHS and would otherwise be too expensive for many of the centre’s clients to access privately. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), for instance, often costs more than £100 per session, but the Neuro Wellbeing Centre asks for contributions from just £18.

The self-help group that evolved into the charity was co-founded by David Hughes, who discovered the benefits of oxygen therapy and wanted other people to experience them too. Tim explains, “Dave was diagnosed with MS in his late 30s. For a while, he could hardly walk. Within three weeks of a course of oxygen therapy, he regained precious mobility and independence. 46 years later, he’s still having regular oxygen therapy and believes he would have been in a wheelchair for at least 30 years without it.”

Cost of Living Grant and Loan                                                                                

The centre is a registered charity and committed to keeping services affordable for all. While client donations help to cover costs, not everyone can afford to donate. That was particularly evident at the height of the cost-of-living crisis.

Tim shares, “In 2022 and 2023, demand for our support was increasing fast, but people had less disposable money so their ability to contribute towards their treatment was significantly impaired. With grant funders also tightening their belts and costs increasing, we found ourselves with a few quarters of negative cash flow.”

The charity had already received a loan from Charity Bank against its premises, so Tim approached us about releasing more equity. We were able to loan the centre £25,000 and arrange a £20,000 grant from Access – The Foundation for Social Investment.

Impact

Tim says, “The loan and grant meant we didn’t have to turn away people who couldn’t afford to make a donation. Core cost funding is such a welcome and useful financial resource but even more than that, the belief and hope that it gave us was priceless.”

Every person, no matter their condition, should be able to access therapies that can improve their day-to-day life. That often isn’t possible without the help of charities like the Neuro Wellbeing Centre.

As one client with MS, Becky, shares, “Currently there is no cure, only drugs and therapies to help manage symptoms. Hence the importance of places like the Neuro Wellbeing Centre, where people can access therapies that help them manage and even improve their symptoms.”

Financial Resilience

While the Cost-of-Living loan and grant helped the charity during a particularly difficult time, the positive impact is still being felt today. Tim shares, “The loan and grant gave us crucial financial headroom – and time and opportunity to find new ways of both controlling costs and optimising all our possible income sources.”

Tim continues, “We’re now offering more classes and gym sessions, which in turn means that we’re seeing an upward curve in the amount of donations that we receive. And I believe that a lot of this stems from the critical months of financial stability that Charity Bank’s support afforded us.”

“What I was most impressed with was the empathy and understanding that came through in every interaction that I had with the people at Charity Bank. They practise what they preach, which is a very rare commodity.”

Tim Culling, Chair of the Neuro Wellbeing Centre