Children in Need donate money is helping keep The Osteopathic Centre for Children at Tower Bridge open for families who pay what they can. Stuart Korth said the clinic could not exist without that funding, even though it has offered healthcare on a donate-what-you-can basis for 35 years.
Hendrix is 14 and was told when he was born that he was unlikely to live longer than two years. Kehinde said bringing him to the clinic when he was a baby helped, and she added: “You can see the impact it has on him in a positive way.”
The Osteopathic Centre for Children
The clinic’s work is built around families who cannot always cover the full cost of treatment, so the payment model stays flexible. Stuart said it “couldn't exist” without Children in Need funding, which keeps the service running while families continue to pay what they can.
At the weekly clinic, parents bring babies after recommendations from lactation consultants, physiotherapists or GPs. Daniel Stuttard said osteopathy can help children cope with health issues such as cerebral palsy, and he described treatment this way: “Our attempt is to influence their physiology, their anatomy, the structures that we can feel to bring them to a sense of balance, to release tension and optimise all the vitality that they have,”
Hendrix and Xaia
Kehinde said Hendrix still needs extra help after a stay in hospital. She also said, “Sometimes when I pick him up he looks like he's agitated or uncomfortable in his own skin. As soon as they lay hands on him, he just relaxes.”
Xiamara has now taken baby Xaia to a second session. She said Xaia was holding her head awkwardly and could not sleep on her back, adding, “She's always slept on my belly since birth so it's a bit tiring.”
The practical question for families is whether the clinic can keep matching need with affordable care. The answer in this case is the same as the model itself: the service keeps operating because Children in Need funding fills the gap that patient payments do not cover.
