A short, three minute video giving you an idea about TherapyAid. Thank you to Thea Gosling and her team at Twin Panda Productions for producing this video for one of their Media Learning Company projects. We love it.

The TherapyAid Committee was formalised in April 2019

Aims:

Our aim is to provide free NHS approved supportive therapies (such as massage, reflexology and reiki) at the point of delivery, to unpaid carers in Norfolk who would not normally be able to afford complementary therapies, by paying suitably qualified therapists who will also be trained in listening skills and have an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by carers

Giving unpaid carers some dedicated time to de-stress and rebalance means that they will be in a better position to care for their loved ones, and are more likely to stay in better health themselves.

We can also help with the relief of isolation and loneliness experienced by unpaid carers, promoting wellness by giving them the time to de-stress and rebalance and give relief from anxiety and pain

We aim to attract funding from sponsorship, our own fundraising activities and from grant funders in order to pay participating therapists for their time ensuring that TherapyAid continues as a high quality sustainable service.

Activities & benefits:

The service from TherapyAid will be available to any unpaid carer supporting a Norfolk resident who is affected by a disability or long term health condition. Carers will be entitled to receive up to five treatments free of charge from participating therapists. The treatments may be carried out in their home or in a nearby clinic as TherapyAid have a network of therapists throughout Norfolk.

TherapyAid also visit care groups throughout Norfolk to offer therapies during their meeting. The carers may be as young as 8 – there is no upper age limit.

They will, therefore be in a better position to care for their loved ones and more likely to promote better health for themselves.

81% – 93% of unpaid carers lead a lonely and isolated lifestyle, driven by looking after their loved ones in often difficult and trying circumstances (CarersUK) Quote from our Pilot: “Having an autistic child affects the whole family, I had no headspace and couldn’t think.”

Unpaid carers are kept in poverty by their circumstances and selfcare is off the agenda as well saving the UK approximately £132 billion a year (Carers UK) and Norfolk services £1.6 billion a year (Carers Matter), and they do so without thought to their own well-being and mental and emotional health. Often their only complaints are a few aches and pains, but we know from experience that it goes much deeper than that.
Our services will benefit the public healthcare services by allowing carers to continue to provide their unpaid work

During the Covid 19 Period

When lockdown came about we had to discontinue giving massage and reflexology treatments to unpaid carers face to face.

We have however come up with plans to enable us to support them.

• We started a book club using Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s book the 4 Pillar Plan, Your Way to a longer healthier life. We buy the book for the carer and then they are invited to the book club meeting via Zoom. We do two meetings a week for just 15 minutes. One is for the book and another one is for his motivating podcasts – we review pages of the book on Tuesdays and then on Thursdays review a podcast. This is a life changing book and the carers are getting so much benefit from it.

• We are sending carers a Bach Remedy bottle which contains a prescription for them – I am a Bach practitioner and therefore this is something I can produce for them – the consultation is done over the phone and the bespoke remedy made up and then delivered to them. It is a herbal type remedy – from the same stable as Rescue Remedy. The remedies help with all sorts of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, worry over family… an endless list.

• We made up a gift parcel and sent them to carers. The parcel contains an aromatherapy product we made ourselves (we are aromatherapists) and also the Bach centre sent us some Rescue Remedy to include.

FUND RAISING

We had all sorts of plans – our garden was due to be open to the public in May in order to raise money, and we had other events, but have come up with another idea.

As we are aromatherapists, we are going to make our own pure aromatherapy products and sell them and use the profits for funding purposes. Please see our shop – exciting times!

But who are we? – this is where we began – right here in a school in Norwich, Norfolk

The Jackie Hamilton School of Therapies is an accredited school that has been successfully training adults in massage, reflexology, sports massage therapy, aromatherapy and anatomy and physiology since 2005.

By the way, Jackie won Federation of Holistic Therapists, Therapist of the Year 2019 so you can rest assured that we know the therapy business very well and together with the team has a wealth of knowledge to use for the benefit of our Norfolk residents.

Happy to say we have already received funding (details bottom of the page).

TherapyAid is already award winning !

About the Therapists

Jackie Hamilton School has a huge network of quality graduates trained to national standards as well as connections to many other quality therapists throughout Norfolk.

This means that all participating therapists are checked for Level 3 (or equivalent) qualifications on the National Occupational Standards, belong to a recognised national association, hold current insurance, a first aid certificate and a valid DBS certificate.

Why Unpaid Carers?

Our experience as professional therapists has given us an insight into the tremendous job that unpaid and informal carers do.

They save the UK approximately £130 billion a year and Norfolk services £1.6 billion a year, and they do so without thought to their own well-being and mental and emotional health. Often their only complaints are a few aches and pains, but we know from experience that it goes much deeper than that.

Giving unpaid carers some dedicated time to de-stress and rebalance means that they will be in a better position to care for their loved ones, and are more likely to stay in better health themselves.

Are you an unpaid carer living in Norfolk ? – simply fill in this on line form and we will arrange for five FREE complementary therapy sessions for you – you certainly deserve it!

If you are an organisation and would like to refer an unpaid carer to us please fill in the form here: Referral Form