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Empowering people with cerebral palsy and other related
disabilities since 1947 Registered charity no:
529464
Fulfilment through Achievement: The History of
Cerebral Palsy Midlands and its community of people 1947 -
2014
Resource Pack for schools & other
groups
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Contents What is cerebral palsy? (Page 3)
Background to Fulfilment through Achievement: The
History of Cerebral Palsy Midlands and its community of people 1947 – 2014 (Page 5)
History of Cerebral Palsy Midlands (Page 6)
Cerebral Palsy Midlands: Today (Page 12)
Notes for Teachers and Group Leaders Visiting Cerebral Palsy Midlands’ Heritage Exhibition
(Page 13) Health and Safety/Risk Assessment (Page 14)
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What is cerebral palsy? Cerebral Palsy is not a single condition of disability. It is essentially an umbrella term
to describe different conditions that can cause physical, learning and communication
difficulties for an individual. Although the main condition can be with difficulties with
muscular and/or precise movement in one or more parts of the body, these
conditions are caused due to brain damage before, during or after birth, usually
caused by oxygen deprivation.
The term ‘Cerebral’ refers to the two halves or hemispheres of the brain. The
Cerebral Cortex is the part of the brain that sends messages to muscles to control
co-ordination and movement. The term ‘Palsy’ refers to the loss of impairment of co-
ordination and motor function.
Due to the complexity of the brain, different parts of the brain can be damaged due
to lack of oxygen. Even though on the whole muscle movement can be impaired, it is
the damage to parts of the brain which disrupts the brain’s ability to control muscle
movement and co-ordination.
People with cerebral palsy can have a wide variety of symptoms, which can include;
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Lack of muscle co-ordination when performing movements
Stiff and/or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes
Walking with one foot or leg dragging
Walking on toes/a crouched gait
Variations in muscle tone, too stiff or too floppy
Difficulties swallowing
Difficulties with verbal communication
Shaking and/or random involuntary movements
Difficulty with precise movements/motions, such as picking up a cup or
buttoning up a shirt. Reflexes and dexterity can also be impaired
Symptoms of cerebral palsy can be very different from one individual to the next, and
could change over time, although the cerebral palsy does not increase in severity.
Lack of usage of muscles can lead to a faster decline in physical capability.
Many individuals with cerebral palsy can also have the following conditions. This is
because the brain is complex and other areas can be damaged, leading to the
following possible conditions;
Learning Disability: Two thirds of individuals with cerebral palsy will have
some form of learning disability.
Impaired Vision, Hearing or Speech: individuals can have some form of
impaired vision, hearing or speech, with some individuals having severe
verbal communication difficulties. Generally one third of individuals with
cerebral palsy will have difficulty forming words and speaking clearly.
Spinal Deformities: Deformities of the spine – curvature (scoliosis),
saddleback (lordosis) and humpback (kyphosis) can be associated with
cerebral palsy. Spinal deformities can make sitting, standing and walking
difficult and cause chronic back pain.
Drooling: Some individuals with cerebral palsy drool because they have poor
control of the muscles of the throat, mouth and tongue. Drooling can cause
severe skin irritation. The condition of drooling can also isolate people from
their peers.
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Background to Fulfilment through Achievement: The History of Cerebral Palsy Midlands and its community of people 1947 – 2014 The initial idea of a heritage project on our charity
came to fruition in late 2011. The 65th Anniversary
of the charity being formed was due in June 2012,
and it was felt that devising a heritage project to
celebrate our 65th Anniversary and our rich history, would be hugely beneficial to the
profile of the charity and the community of people that it empowers and supports.
The following benefits of having a heritage project were identified;
1. Engage our community of people in our heritage, including their own life
stories and associations with CPM. Many of the people we support have been
users of our charity for many years. We believed that a project of this design
would ‘reconnect’ people to our proud heritage.
2. People’s life stories would be archived and documented, getting across an
awareness of how life is like living in Birmingham with disability in the modern
era. The project would help bring the subject of disability history into our local
community.
3. Our heritage would be archived for future use, preserving the life story of a
long serving charity.
In November 2011, a pre application was submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The idea of a pre application was to initially give a draft idea of our project proposal
to HLF, so that we could gain critical advice and feedback on our ideas.
Between January to March 2012, we worked on our full application to HLF. It was
submitted at the end of March, and in late June, we were notified that we had been
successful.
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Aims of the Project – what we want to achieve
1. To conserve the individual life stories of people
who are living with cerebral palsy and other related
disabilities in Birmingham and its surrounding areas since
1947.
2. To inform and educate people from different backgrounds and ages on the
challenges and successes people with cerebral palsy and other related
disabilities have had during the 20th century and into the 21st century.
3. To conserve and display the heritage of Cerebral Palsy Midlands, its work and
the people who have been a part of it.
4. To have a wide range of participation in our project, from people who have
been directly and indirectly involved with our heritage, to developing a
volunteer programme where people can get involved with researching our
heritage.
5. To produce a 65th Anniversary Book to highlight the heritage of Cerebral Palsy
Midlands and its community.
6. To display our heritage through an exhibition.
History of Cerebral Palsy Midlands
Cerebral Palsy Midlands came into
existence largely through the interest and
influence of two prominent local figures,
both of whom had children with cerebral
palsy. Paul Cadbury, of the famous
Bournville family, and Stephen Cadbury,
both realised that there were no services
throughout the Midlands for children and adults with cerebral palsy. Following the
aftermath of the Second World War and the outcomes that had come out of the
conflict, people wanted massive changes to daily life, and certified welfare services
for the general public.
Paul Cadbury, Dr Earl Carlson & Stephen Qualye,
three important individuals in the creation of the MSA
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The famous Beveridge Report of 1942 was a big indication of
what was needed to be done in terms of welfare reform. Sir
William Beveridge proposed that there needed to be changes
to the system to support people who were in need of help, or
in poverty. The report highlighted five major problems, those
being Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
Beveridge believed in trying to minimise these problems by
there being good health care, education, housing,
employment and income for everyone. Indeed, the 1944
Education Act was the stepping stone to a proper education
system, for the provision of education for children. This was
further enforced in 1948 with the National Assistance Act,
which laid down what care should be in place for people with
disabilities.
In the USA, Dr Earl Carlson, a specialist in the subject of cerebral palsy and a
founder member of The American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental
Medicine, was making huge strides in the study of cerebral palsy. Dr Carlson himself
had cerebral palsy, and following a meeting with Mr Cadbury in New York, was
invited to come over to Birmingham and discuss ways of setting up services for
people in the Midlands, in 1946.
Dr Carlson, Mr Cadbury and Mr Qualye met with members of the local council and
health authorities, with the aim of creating services for people with CP in
Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Herefordshire. A major
outcome of this meeting was the creation of the
Midland Spastic Association, on the 21st June 1947.
The MSA, as it came to be known, purchased a large
house in Victoria Road, Harborne, to be renovated into
a school for children with CP. Carlson House School
became the first school in England and Wales to be
dedicated directly to the education of children
Sir William Beveridge,
“The object of
government in peace
and in war is not the
glory of rulers or of
races, but the
happiness of the
common man”
Carlson House School in the
1960’s
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specifically with CP. It was opened in September 1948, with
Miss Christine Woodall (later to become Mrs Christine Brown)
as the first Head Teacher.
MSA, like many charities in their infancy, faced many
challenges during its early years, with one of its major
challenges being to trace children and adults who lived in the
Midlands with CP. In 1950, our first Welfare Officer, Mavis
Taylor, was appointed with the task of tracing and visiting
families. She originally started off in a small room in Carlson House School, with a
list of 600 names and addresses, and not much more!
In her early work, Miss Taylor noticed that many
children were not getting an education, and that
residential care for adults did not really exist. Through
giving advice to parents, more children came into
contact with the school. Also, as the 1950’s
progressed, more adults were also coming into contact with the charity. In response
to this, a welfare building was built next door to Carlson House School, to provide
day care and activities for adults. This building, known as ‘the hut’, was very basic in
terms of facilities, but provided much needed activities and services for adults.
A second Welfare Officer position was created, with Mr
Peter Barrett taking the post, as the number of people
supported by the charity rose from 600 to 1,700. To support
this work, the MSA ‘Action Group’ was setup, primarily
comprised local people and parents. This group helped out
with many issues that the charity faced, especially in
advertising and fundraising.
Further development during this decade was the formation
of social clubs for people who attended the welfare
building. The first club, ‘The Helping Hand Youth Club’, proved to be a fantastic way
Miss Christine
Woodall
Art lesson at Carlson House School
Fundraising for the MSA,
1960’s
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for teenagers to mix and socialise with people their
own age. Other clubs were also setup during this
period, with The Pathfinders Club on Monday nights
for adults, in 1955, and then The Adventurers Club on
Wednesday nights in 1959. The Pathfinders Club still
meets today on a monthly basis.
The development that the charity went through during the
1950s meant that its current facilities, namely the Welfare
Building, had to be enhanced or replaced with better
facilities, to cope with the growth in the number of people
using the charity.
Following the decision to develop new, purpose built premises;
our current building was built in the early 1960s. The Centre, as it
is still labelled now, made a positive impact on the charity’s work,
allowing more activities to be run. The centre provided
new facilities, such as a workshop, activity hall, kitchen
and administration offices, plus proper office space for the
Welfare Officers. The workshop was used for activities
such as craft work, woodwork and basket making. Many
products of high quality were produced over the years,
many of which were sold and used as a source of
fundraising.
The 1970s saw an expansion to the activities of the charity.
A horse riding group was created in conjunction with the
Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA). Every year, the group has provided
fulfilment to many hundreds of people. New educational and life skill classes were
also developed during this period, such as English, Social Studies, Music, Art and
Cookery. These activities supported people in developing everyday skills that
enriched their lives.
‘The Helping Hand’ Youth Club
Our current centre in the
1960’s
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The 1980s brought about a huge change in attitude towards people with disabilities
throughout society. Radical change came about and the work of the charity adapted
to these new attitudes, which were for greater equality and freedom for people with
disabilities. The attitude of the charity changed from that of a parental view towards
people, to one of an empowering view, which promotes an individual’s freedom of
choice and independence, through every aspect of their life.
1981 was the International Year of Disabled People, and the following year, an
exciting idea became reality at the centre, when a new training flatlet was opened.
The flatlet, set out like a one bedroom flat with its own kitchen, was seen as an
opportunity to enable people to gain greater independence and valuable knowledge
in life skills, such as cooking, money management, social skills and personal
hygiene, plus how to look after their own accommodation. 1982 also saw the closure
of Carlson House School. The school, which had helped to educate and enrich the
lives of children with CP, gave way to a supported accommodation development.
Carlson Park has been a huge success in supporting people achieves their own
independence.
1987 saw the MSA celebrate its 40th Birthday, and Carlson
Park and its 45 flats were ready for their new tenants. The
Princess Royal was invited to open the flats
officially in October of the same year, and
famously gave MSA officials and the local
press a shock by arriving at the MSA welfare
building and not Carlson Park! She toured the
flats, the centre and met many people.
In 1996, the charity changed its name to MSA
for Midland People with Cerebral Palsy. The
change in name came about from the people the charity supports. Deleting the term
‘spastic’ from the name of the charity was very importat for people within the MSA
community, as the term had unfortunately become a derogative term in society,
rather than just a descriptive term of a disability. Since 2000, we have seen a change
in how the charity measures its success. Originally success was measured in terms
Princess Anne visits the MSA and the newly
opened Carlson Park, 1987
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of how many activities the charity had to offer. Our success is now measured in how
people have more choice in life; for example, what to spend their money on,
accessing the community and choosing what services they wish to use. Success is
now measured in empowering people.
In October 2004 at our AGM, our members voted for a change in name from MSA for
Midland People with Cerebral Palsy, to Cerebral Palsy Midlands. The idea of
changing names was for people to focus more on the condition and to increase
awareness in society. The charity was re launched
in October 2005, with the mission of promoting
empowerment for people within its community of
interest. Following recommendations from Inlogov
School of Public Policy of The University of
Birmingham, the charity remodelled itself around
new core projects, called URconnectABLE, LIFE
Skills and Person 1st, all centred towards promoting
peoples’ independence and gaining empowerment.
We have also created new projects, within the
subjects of Art and Music, to press forward peoples’ talents.
We have also linked with different organisations through active networking, to
improve the work of CPM, and help other third sector organisations in their own
work. We have networked with European organisations who work with people with
disabilities. Since August 2010, we have been involved with a project called
Makeable, working with partner organisations in Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy,
Slovakia and Spain. These organisations visited CPM and Birmingham in June 2012,
to help us celebrate our 65th Anniversary, and so celebrate our heritage and what we
have always wanted to do, in striving towards full empowerment for all people with
disabilities.
The charity is re launched as
Cerebral Palsy Midlands, 2005
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Cerebral Palsy Midlands: Today
Cerebral Palsy Midlands empowers and supports people with cerebral palsy and
other related disabilities from across Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Based in Harborne, the charity runs a community centre that provides much needed
daycare, activities, training and educational courses for adults over the age of 19.
We run art and music projects (VeraNicArt and Being Heard respectively) that
support people in developing their talents in these fields. We also run life skill training
in literacy, numeracy, IT studies, cooking, health and wellbeing, plus a Personal and
Social Development/Craft and Design course, which is facilitated by CareFirst Ltd.
We also have a monthly social club called Pathfinders, and we organise short break
holidays throughout the year.
We have an informed advocacy and advice service called URconnectABLE
(pronounced “You are connectable”). Our social work team supports people and their
families and carers with many issues, such as accessing supported/independent
living, rightful benefit applications, care planning, accessing services, plus
representation at tribunals.
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Visiting Cerebral Palsy Midlands’ Heritage Exhibition Our Heritage Exhibition was officially opened to the public on Thursday 27th February
2014. The exhibition is fully open to the public, school groups and other groups on a
weekly basis from Monday to Friday (9.00am to 4.30pm). We can also organise
group visits outside of normal working hours to suit the requirements of your group.
Group visits can include the following activities;
An Introductory Talk about the origins of our heritage project, its aims and
objectives.
A presentation on our historical findings and research. This could include
discussions on disability history and the co-ordination of our oral history
programme.
A guided tour of our exhibition.
Light refreshments and welcome drinks can be provided.
We can also tailor visits to match National Curriculum requirements at
primary/secondary level.
Address & Contact Details
Adam Siviter (Development Officer)
Tel No: 0121 427 3182
Email: [email protected]
Lottie Clark (Heritage Project Co-ordinator)
Tel No: 0121 427 3182
Email: [email protected]
Cerebral Palsy Midlands
17 Victoria Road
Harborne
Birmingham
B17 0AQ
www.cpmids.org.uk
www.facebook.com/CerebralPalsyMidlands
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Health and Safety/Risk Assessment
Our community centre in Harborne is a busy daycare
environment, as well as a venue of activities, training and
educational classes. For school groups, it is recommended
that visiting teachers make a pre visit to our community centre
to discuss a visit and also assess any health and safety
matters with charity staff. A risk assessment should be completed by the appropriate
teaching staff and a qualified first aider should accompany the school group. It is
also important for support staff to be made aware of the risk assessment and the full
details of the visit. Supervision of attending pupils is essential, and it is not
recommended that a visiting group size be no larger than 20 pupils.
For other groups, it is desirable for group leaders (but not essential) for group
leaders to make a pre visit to our community centre and to carry out their own risk
assessment.
To discuss health and safety, risk assessment matters or to enquire into Cerebral
Palsy Midlands’ risk assessment regarding group visits, please contact Adam Siviter
on 0121 427 3182 or email at [email protected]
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