Established in 2000 in Chișinău, the capital city of in Moldova, the Centre is staffed by a dedicated team of qualified paediatric therapists with various specialisms, supporting children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy. They combine multi-disciplinary rehabilitation with parental education to help promote each child’s integration into society. The aim is to optimise the child’s potential for the future development of their young bodies.
The health care services provided include:
- Free individual medical evaluation, assessment and establishment of bespoke multi-disciplinary rehabilitation programmes, with the frequency and duration of visits adapted to each child’s requirements.
- Specialist medical consultations.
- Physio, speech, music and basic occupational therapies.
- Massage and the provision of orthopaedic equipment.
- Supervised Hydro therapy, using the on-site pool
- Sensory therapy, using a fully equipped modern sensory room
- Psychological counselling and special needs education
- Education in health and hygiene
- Family aid (food, clothing, occasionally financial)
- Arrangement of orthopaedic and cardiac operations
In any one year some 600 children are offered treatment; while many only need come two or three times a year, fifty children are seen every month, with the programmes for each child being reassessed and realigned as the child develops.
While the service is free to access for users, the annual budget to operate the Centre is in the region of £92,000.
Additional funding will help the team at the Tony Hawks Centre maintain their free-to-use service, and allow them to enhance and replace orthopaedic equipment. The Centre also needs to maintain their programme of providing desperately needy children and their families practical aid in the form of medications, food and clothing.
