Rehabilitation centre raises over £50,000 to safeguard vital services in Hemel Hempstead

A specialist spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation charity in Hemel Hempstead has raised over £52,000 to safeguard its scheme that supports people with a newly acquired spinal cord injury.

Neurokinex raised £52,850 to safeguard its scheme, the Newly Injured Scheme awards six free sessions to newly injured or diagnosed clients.

A lifeline for many, it gives them access to the unique Neurokinex services that can have life-changing results.

However, it costs the Neurokinex Charitable Trust £420 per person to fulfil and loss of income during lockdown put the scheme at serious risk of closure.

In a bid to protect its Newly Injured Scheme, Neurokinex launched a two-month Step Up Appeal on June 1, to raise £25,000.

By doubling that target, Neurokinex has saved its Newly Injured Scheme ensuring newly injured people can access its services now lockdown has lifted.

Six Neurokinex clients, aged two to 49, set themselves a range of personal challenges to help protect the service that helped them, they raised £28,322.56

Damian Riley, a Hemel Hempstead client, raised £5,714 by completing a ‘sprint triathlon’ by lifting weights to ‘swim’, cycling on an exercise bike and walking laps of his local park on the one-year anniversary of his cycling accident.

The other funds were raised through a combination of individual donations and a charity auction that ended the two-month campaign on July 31.

Harvey Sihota, Neurokinex founder and director, said: “I am absolutely astounded and delighted by the response we had to our Step Up Appeal, especially from our clients who set themselves incredible challenges to give back to a service that means so much to them.

“The sheer generosity of their spirit and the donations from 100s of sponsors has blown me away – especially considering the difficult times everyone is facing physically and financially.

"It was a massive team effort by my colleagues, clients, friends of the charity and our PR agency whose collaboration and dedication made this possible.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that our Newly Injured Scheme is secured for another 12 months: we have already welcomed new clients through our doors who have waited patiently during lockdown in the hope we could help them.

"Thank you to everyone involved.”

To find out more about the Neurokinex Step Up Appeal and Client Challenges visit: neurokinex.org/step-up-appeal.