After a highly competitive application process, The Whitehouse Consultancy has announced that its pro bono client for the next 12 months will be REACH, a consortium incorporating ten of the leading specialist centres working with children with cerebral palsy across the UK – including PACE in Buckinghamshire. REACH is determined to make big strides in the quality of life for children with cerebral palsy, and to tackle the specific issues which they and their families face.
REACH will be working with Whitehouse with the aim of achieving a number of goals over our 12 month partnership including:
- increasing awareness of the issues facing children with cerebral palsy;
- the development of a national multi-agency cerebral palsy strategy and taskforce which will:
- seek to eradicate the postcode lottery for cerebral palsy provision across the UK
- ensure the availability of and appropriate funding for life-changing early and intensive intervention for children with cerebral palsy
- ensure improved training for professionals working with children with cerebral palsy.
Although there are no official figures, REACH estimates that there are around 30,000 children across the UK with cerebral palsy. They believe that early, intensive intervention can make a real difference to the skills these children are able to develop and their overall quality of life.
Commenting on the announcement, Amanda Richardson, Chief Executive of PACE said “On behalf of the many children with cerebral palsy in the UK and their families, we are extremely excited to have this opportunity to work with The Whitehouse Consultancy. We are confident that together we can make a real difference in the way that they are treated and in what they can achieve in their future lives”.
Managing Director Chris Whitehouse said:
“Whitehouse is delighted to be working with REACH on this important project, with the aim of transforming the policy landscape for cerebral palsy in the UK.”
