Hydrotherapy pool at Jolly Josh is a splash-hit

Opening its doors to the public to celebrate 5 years of Jolly Josh, as well as the opening of their brand new, hydrotherapy pool dedicated to children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), complex needs or physical disability, the team at Jolly Josh are celebrating a splash-hit!

Member of Youth Parliament for Rochdale and Pennines, Henry Leahy along with deputy MYP for Rochdale and Pennines, Joyce Kapiamba and deputy Children’s Champion for the borough, Erin Pollitt presided over the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the centre’s open day on Saturday 24 of September.

With hydrotherapy pool demonstrations throughout the day, the centre was visited by existing families as well as those who had heard about the facilities and were keen to find out exactly how Jolly Josh can help them.

Jolly Josh centre manager, Sarah Ford said: “What a fantastic day for everyone involved! We were able to meet those who are frequent visitors to the centre as well as a lot of new visitors, who were keen to find out what Jolly Josh is all about and find out about our new hydrotherapy pool facilities.

“It was wonderful to meet Joyce, Henry, and Erin, what fantastic representative they are of children and young people in the borough. They gave a wonderful speech about Jolly Josh and by cutting the ribbon, officially opened our brand-new hydrotherapy pool.

“So many others helped to make this day special including trustees, staff, volunteers and our open day sponsors, H Bell & Sons, for which we are so incredibly grateful.”

 

 

Sarah continued: “Getting the centre up and running has been a labour of love for so many people, so the fact that we are now fully open, including the hydrotherapy pool, and able to offer a fully programme of sessions to children, young adults and families is amazing.

“Our multi-function room was busy too, with new families seeing firsthand the facilities that are available. From sensory toys and equipment especially for children with complex medical needs and disabilities, an interactive whiteboard which is essential for our Tac Pac and Sing and Sign sessions, to the immersive, multi-sensory experience our ‘Magic Carpet’ provides, Jolly Josh is set up and ready to provide themed ‘stay and play’ and social sessions for children and young adults aged 0-19.”

 

 

The purpose-built facility goes the extra mile in helping all its visitors, with each facility benefiting from a full ceiling hoists system, including in the hydrotherapy pool and ‘Changing Places’ room (a specially built and fully accessible changing, shower and toilet facility for children and adults).

About the open day, the centre’s lead session facilitator, Rachel Bell said: “We were overwhelmed by the response we received on Saturday and thrilled to know that we are working so quickly towards our goals to inspire inclusion, relieve isolation, provide a safe and accessible environment to support each other, and give the freedom and the sensory stimulation experienced in our hydrotherapy pool. Our aim is to help families to connect, support and thrive and Saturday’s open day went a long way to us achieving those goals.”

Jolly Josh invites families in the borough living with a child or young adult with complex medical needs, and/or physical disability or profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) to get in touch to see for themselves how they can take advantage of the services the centre offers.

For more information about Jolly Josh visit www.jollyjosh.co.uk or phone 01706 399 141 to speak to the team about hydrotherapy, ‘stay and play’ and social sessions.