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The Brightwell Thank you for choosing to donate to The Brightwell Thank you so much for donating to The Brightwell. We very much appreciate your generosity. If your donation is specifically to be used as a contribution towards a named member’s therapy, please let us know by emailing hello@thebrightwell.org.uk We would very much like to invite you to become an active part of our Brightwell community. If you would like to find out more about how to support us, please click on the links below. Donate Now Please use the form below to donate using a debit/credit card, Google Pay or PayPal Last name First name Email Donate in the name of Enter the amount £ Gift Aid my donation Address Town / City Postal / Zip code Donate Thank you for your donation! Other ways to donate You can donate via JustGiving. Click on the image below to go to our JustGiving page. Want to make a regular donation? If you would like to make a regular donation, please download and complete a Standing Order form. Please click on the link below to download. Standing Order Form If you are a UK taxpayer, donating through Gift Aid means that we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give. It will not cost you any extra. For example if you donate £10 that means that if you are eligible and select to add Gift Aid, The Brightwell will receive £12.50. This makes a huge difference to us. In Order for us to claim Gift Aid we ask that you provide us with your name and address. Thank you. Corporate Donations We are delighted to be supported by so many businesses and companies and such donations can be made via our Brightwell 100 Just Giving page Please visit our Brightwell 100 page to see our latest projects and Wishlist. Gift in Will Make a Difference That Lives On Give the gift of therapy, support and friendship by remembering The Brightwell in your Will. Leaving a financial gift to The Brightwell will have a direct and positive impact on those living with chronic neurological conditions. Your gift will enable individuals to be supported by our wonderful Centre. Please visit our Gift in Will page. Thank you.

The Brightwell, incorporating The West of England Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre, offers specialised therapies including physio and hyperbaric plus many other support services. As a charity we rely on fundraising and donations to continue our work. Welcome to The Brightwell About Us At The Brightwell, incorporating the West of England MS Therapy Centre, we are dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals living with chronic neurological conditions. With over 40 years of unwavering commitment, we strive to empower our members by providing access to a warm and friendly, non-clinical environment that fosters independence, symptom management, and overall well-being. We welcome members from the Greater Bristol area, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Bath, Wiltshire, South Wales and from all across the South West and the M4 corridor. There are always lots of social activities and events taking place and a huge and varied number of ways to be involved in fundraising and volunteering . Click here to find out how to Become a Member. Therapies that we offer Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Oxygen Therapy for Sports Injuries Physiotherapy Neurophysiotherapy Exercise Groups and Classes Online Classes FES Clinic Counselling Complementary therapies Acupuncture Massage and Reflexology Conditions that we support Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke Parkinson’s Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Sports Injuries Motor Neurone Disease, Functional Neurological Disorders, Long Covid Post Operative Recovery Cancer Therapies at The Brightwell Oxygen Therapy For Neurological Conditions Oxygen Therapy for Sports Injuries Oxygen Therapy for Other Conditions One-to-One Neuro Physiotherapy Groups and Classes Online Classes FES Clinic Specialist Clinics Support and Information Our Impact Report for 2024 This is the first time that we have produced an Impact Report in this format and we are delighted with how it gives a great representation of everything that goes on here at The Brightwell. The report is packed full of great images, facts, statistics and information. The report includes sections on Our Story So Far Who We Support Our Therapies A Letter From Our Chair A Letter From Our CEO 2024 In Numbers Fundraising Stories from Our Members Meet Our Volunteers Acknowledgements. Whether you are a New or Existing Member,Volunteer,Member of Staff or Supporter this is an excellent document, offering so much information regarding the Charity, its work and people, operational insights and community. You can view or download a copy of this report by clicking on the image above or click here .. A hardcopy version can be available on request, please call 01454 201686.

On Thursday, 30 April, a large group of volunteers from the Lloyds Banking Group came to undertake several much-needed tasks at the Centre. Over the Years, Lloyds Banking Group has provided several hardworking volunteer groups, and this latest team was no exception! Several housekeeping and maintenance jobs needed attention, including clearing an access path and cleaning windows. However, a major project was to clear an area at the side of the building. This area has become very overgrown over the years, and we needed to clear this space for a significant project we are about to undertake. This major project is to resurface our garden path. Over the past 15 months, this has been a difficult issue with several contractors trying to lay a “hogging” path similar to the original one. However, despite numerous ideas and attempts, this was not a success. The path will shortly be re-laid with a smooth tarmac finish, which will give full access to all our wheelchair users. However, to keep costs as low as possible, we needed to find somewhere to put all the huge amount of hogging that will be replaced. This is how we will use the newly cleared area. Once the hogging has been put there, we can flatten it out so that the area can be used as an additional outdoor storage space. Check out some of our before and after photos… We would like to give a massive thanks to Jo Rapeer and her team, plus our amazing Steve Fitt, who came back to the Centre to oversee the day’s activities. We will update you about the installation date for the new surface, plus there is even more exciting news to follow!

Invitation to our 2026 AGM on 28 May We warmly invite all members, volunteers, and friends to join us for our Annual General Meeting, taking place in person at The Brightwell or on Zoom on Thursday, 28 May, from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm. At the AGM, the Chair of Trustees, Geoff Mayell, will give his review of 2025 and share our plans and ambitions for 2026 and beyond. Steve Cocks, our Treasurer Trustee, will give an overview of the year's finances and Doro, our CEO, will give a presentation on the therapy numbers, membership and services delivered. It will be a wonderful opportunity to hear how the Centre is growing and to celebrate everything we have achieved together. We will also be taking a moment during the AGM to remember our dear friend and fellow Trustee Mark Whitehouse, who passed away earlier this year. Mark gave so much of his time and expertise to The Brightwell over many years, and we will be holding a two-minute silence in his honour. Anyone who would like to stay and celebrate his memory with us afterwards is very welcome to do so. Please can you call Reception on 01454 201686 or email hello@thebrightwell.org.uk to confirm that you will be attending or to send your apologies. We do hope you can join us.

My name is Charles Edis. I have been a long-term supporter of The Brightwell, I am Company Secretary to the Board and a Trustee. When I fractured my fibula (lower leg) in late October, it was a couple of weeks later that Doro, our CEO, suggested Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) might help with healing. After 13 years involved at The Brightwell, and my mother visiting long before me, I should have thought of it, but I hadn’t! I was sent forms to complete beforehand, explaining HBOT. Angela, the Centre’s Oxygen Coordinator, then went through everything with me and registered me as a member on my first visit. (Do allow plenty of extra time for this). I didn’t give myself enough time before my first visit, so everyone was waiting for me when I arrived. The recommendation is that you arrive 15 minutes ahead of the session start time. Fortunately, I could limp in with my fracture boot. I was given a suitable mask and instructions on how to put it on and adjust it, which takes a bit of fiddling the first time. Some people prefer their own masks, but I used one provided by the centre. The chamber is cosy and comfortable once you’re settled in. I was given a footstool to keep my leg elevated and reduce swelling. Once we were securely locked in, following a safety briefing, communications with the operators were checked. The chamber is then pressurised, which can be quite noisy depending on your seat relative to the inlet valve. It takes about 15 minutes to get to 2ata (atmospheres absolute - P4). Earplugs and headphones are not allowed during pressurisation and depressurisation; however you can use headphones when the chamber is at pressure. Having some reading material handy is helpful because while everyone is friendly, conversation becomes difficult with masks on. Another thing to expect is that the chamber can feel quite warm when pressurised but quickly cold again when de-pressurised. Therefore, an easily removable extra layer is advisable. However, a pullover would require removing your mask, which is attached to tubes on either side, so a cardigan or similar might be better. The other things to be aware of are how to ‘clear’ your ears to prevent discomfort from the pressure, all part of the advance briefing, which is akin to a plane landing (when the chamber is pressurised) and a plane taking off (when de-pressurising). After an hour, the operators will announce the impending depressurisation, which takes 10-15 minutes and is also quite noisy. Afterwards, you might feel cold and sweaty but after getting everyone out of the chamber one at a time, depending on their condition, it does not take very long to re-acclimatise: This might involve a nice cup of tea and a cake from the onsite Brightwell Café. In all, I had five HBOT sessions, fairly quick in succession, as this supposedly improves the chances of injured tissues healing quickly. I couldn’t make one appointment due to an incident on the motorway, but it was easy to re-book. I live over an hour away, and was fortunate that my long-suffering wife drove me everywhere for a couple of months. I certainly believe my broken leg made more than satisfactory progress. However, it’s impossible to measure this precisely without someone else of similar age, gender and stature having exactly the same spiral fracture in the same place at the same time and not receiving HBOT for comparison. I’m still doing physiotherapy several months later on medical advice because that is the standard approach to my particular injury. I would definitely recommend HBOT at Brightwell to anyone in a similar situation. In fact would probably suggest continuing follow-up appointments over an extended period, but do consult the experts on these matters. Unfortunately, I live too far away for regular follow-up appointments to be very convenient. Like many, I always enjoy visiting The Brightwell with the positive atmosphere and diverse range of people I meet there. It’s encouraging to see so many long-standing supporters who regularly attend as well. I hope this piece has been helpful to anyone considering trying HBOT for the first time. If you’re able to help keep the Centre running in these challenging economic and increasingly regulatory times, whether as a volunteer, trustee or donor, or even if you know someone who could benefit from our help and therapies, or if you have any suggestions, please get in touch with any member of our team. Email: hello@thebrightwell.org.uk Tel: 01454 201 686 Further information about Oxygen Therapy can be found at The Brightwell www.thebrightwell.org.uk/oxygen-therapy