IRIS

The IRIS Magazine 9
Portland Physio Now Available
To The Wider Community
A state of the art college physiotherapy service is throwing its
doors open to the public for the first time.
Portland College’s physiotherapy
department has worked with
individuals attending the college for
more than 65 years and can boast
of some of the most sophisticated
equipment in the UK.
Now for the first time the wider
community can pay to use the
physiotherapy service at the College
and gain access to its specialised gym
and trained staff.
It costs £55 per hour of
physiotherapist time or £82.50 per
hour if the hydrotherapy pool is
used (this is because a poolside staff
member is also required).
Physiotherapy Manager Alistair
Beverley says he understands that this
can be expensive for people funding
their own treatment but says that
the charity delivers a gold standard
– costing roughly the same as private
physiotherapy but also incorporating
over a million pounds worth of
specialist equipment on site.
He said: “The most rewarding thing is
when people say thank you for making
a difference.
“I had a woman who’s not been pain
free for pretty much her whole life
and she was in tears because she
achieved that and couldn’t remember
what it was like to be free of it”.
The service offers:
l Exercise programmes
l Massage
l Standing practice
l Mobility practice
l Postural management
l Wheelchair assessment
l Orthotics monitoring and
onward referral
l Sensory sessions
l Rebound therapy
l Use of one of the largest
Hydrotherapy pools in the UK
IRIS spoke to 20 year Michael as he
underwent a physiotherapy session
in the gym and he spoke about the
service’s best asset – its staff.
He said: “It’s different from other
physios… who sometimes don’t have
a clue. These guys know what they’re
doing and give me encouragement -
here they do things with me rather
than to me”.
For more information and to
enquire about booking contact the
service on 01623 499174 or email
portlandfreedon@portland.ac.uk
Sensory Library
Goes From Strength
To Strength
When staff at Fountaindale
Special School near Mansfield
opened Nottinghamshire’s first
Sensory Lending Library in 2013,
they could not have anticipated
quite how successful it would be.
The library lends sensory toys
and equipment to parents and
carers of children at Fountaindale
and also to all mainstream
and special schools, early
years’ providers and parents of
children with disabilities across
Nottinghamshire.
It also has a wide range of high
tech and low tech equipment for
use with children with sensory
needs and the specialist sensory
team also offers help and support
on how to use the equipment to
meet individual children’s needs.
It also runs a variety of workshops
and training courses both
nationally and locally.
13 Year-old Sam (pictured) is
just one of the happy customers
who’ve used the service
Mum Annabel said: “I can’t thank
the service enough for letting us
take this equipment home with us –
it’s been lovely to see Sam engaging
with something new and we’ve had
lots of interaction with it!”
The library is free (£5 joining
fee) and is currently open every
Thursday during term-time.
For further details or to register
as a borrower with the library,
please contact Julie Cowpe-
Stephens or Helen Dillon
at Fountaindale School on
01623 792671.