“Spending time in the pool can help reduce pain, increase flexibility and mobility, stimulate senses and improve balance” – shop customers are being asked to donate 25p to help fund hydrotherapy sessions for the next 12 months Customers at leading charity shops across the region have the chance to club together and help fund hydrotherapy sessions for families receiving care from East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). The new Help Hydrotherapy Happen campaign is being rolled out in EACH’s 48 shops across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. When paying at the till, customers will have the option to donate an extra 25p and the target is to raise £9,000 – enough to fund a hydrotherapy session every week for the next 12 months. Ian Nicolson, EACH’s Director of Retail, said: “We’re calling on all our customers to help raise just £23 a week in every shop from 5th August to 29th September. “If just one in four customers donates 25p we’ll raise over £9,000 during the campaign and that would help pay for a hydro session every week for the next year! “Of course, there’s no obligation to donate and customers certainly don’t have to give anything extra when they pay for their items. “However, just 25p would help us greatly, when added together with money raised across the region. “It’s an exciting campaign that will undoubtedly make a tangible difference to the children and families receiving our care and support.” EACH has hydrotherapy pools at each of its hospices – at Milton, near Cambridge, The Nook, near Norwich, and The Treehouse, in Ipswich. They are warmer than recreational pools and allow families to take a dip together in a private, safe and supportive environment. “From a child’s perspective, spending time in the pool can help reduce pain, increase flexibility and mobility, stimulate senses and improve balance,” added Ian. “It’s a wonderful way to enable special memories for families.” EACH Physical Therapies Technician Lauren Wright hopes customers give generously and says hydrotherapy has become a real passion. “It’s incredible and has such benefits for the children, for so many different reasons,” she said. “We’ve got a young girl who lost the ability to walk on land. However, when she gets in the pool, she’s able to take steps in the water, which is huge for her. “Then we’ve got slightly older children who aren’t able to have much physical contact with their parents, because they’re in wheelchairs and their movement is so restrictive. “When we’re able to get them in the pool, they’re able to hug their parents, which is very emotional and so important for families. “It’s an amazing thing to witness and experience and I consider myself very lucky to come in and do this as my job. It’s a real passion of mine.”