The Brain Charity

The Brain Charity’s innovative free dance and craft workshops for children with neurological conditions have opened to youngsters anywhere in the UK for the first time – by moving online.

The Brain Changer Arts Project – launched in 2019 by The Brain Charity thanks to funding from BBC Children in Need – harnesses the power of the arts to help some of the more than 500,000 young people across the UK with neurological conditions or brain injuries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant The Brain Changer Arts Project has had to temporarily stop running in schools and community centres, as they had been previously.

But now the fun weekly sessions, which provide physiotherapy through dance and occupational therapy through art and craft, are running as safe, private online video classes and Youtube tutorials.

These are open to children of any age, with any neurological condition, from anywhere in the UK.

The physiotherapy through dance videos focus each week on mobility and strength through a different creative theme. The art and craft sessions focus on improving hand and arm skills through a different artistic activity in each video.

All activities are specifically designed to stimulate multiple parts of the brain and improve cognitive function – dancing boosts motor control and balance, reduces stress and increases serotonin levels while crafting assists with dexterity, hand-eye coordination and memory – as well as offering a chance for children and their parents or carers to make new friends.

Already, organisers have noticed life-changing benefits for the young people taking part – in the project’s first year, more than a third of participants found their mobility improved and confidence levels shot up among more than half of attendees.

Nanette Mellor, CEO of The Brain Charity, said: “Access to physiotherapy for our young people is so limited these days, and we are sure these workshops will improve their wellbeing and set them up for as healthy and active a life as possible.”

For more information or to sign up, please fill in the form here.

You can also access previous video sessions at The Brain Charity’s YouTube page.