After almost two decades of campaigning and fundraising, Bobath Scotland is settling into a state-of-the-art home in Glasgow.

MAUREEN ELLIS meets the staff, clients and parents at a centre that’s helping to improve the lives of families across the country affected by cerebral palsy.

The smell of newness hits you first – followed by the palpable sense of excitement.

From the patchwork-printed sofas in the airy reception to the brightly coloured gym balls in the therapy rooms and the beaming smiles on everyone’s faces, there’s a gleam to everything at Bobath Scotland’s new state-of-the-art premises.

The Glasgow-based cerebral palsy charity has achieved what it set out to do almost two decades ago – create a centre it can finally call home.

Inside this former office building in the Port Dundas area of the city, hundreds of children are being given the chance of a better life.

The £1.1million building, formerly the Clyde Property HQ in Craighall Business Park just north of the M8, needed relatively minor modifications to make it fit for use by more than 300 families from around Scotland who rely on its services annually.

Neon hand-paintings are dotted around walls and doors, fashioned by some of the younger clients. “They’re like our little stars, really,” says Mary Baillie, head of fundraising.

“Just to get the move here is fantastic,” she adds. “It’s our own and we can make it homely.”

Bobath Scotland – one of only three such centres in the UK – first opened its doors in a dilapidated council-owned centre in Knightswood in 1995, following a fundraising campaign by a group of parents. With the help of a private donation, they bought the site for £175,000 – and sold it to a property developer for a profit of around £1.25m.

Those funds assured the charity’s future while it transferred first to the former HCI Hospital in Clydebank, and then to temporary accommodation in Drumchapel until finally securing the permanent site at Port Dundas.

Around 1800 children in Scotland have cerebral palsy, a condition of the brain that causes impaired movement, plus visual and speech difficulties.

Doctors refer families to the centre, which uses intensive physio­therapy to correct posture and increase muscle control. Speech and occupational therapists teach techniques that can then be followed at home.

The bulk of the therapy takes place on the ground floor of the building. A reception area leads to four well-appointed therapy rooms.

As much of the therapy is based on play, there are two generous storage areas spilling out toys for all ages and abilities.

In one room, head of therapy Rina van der Walt is making the most of musical toys for her one-hour session with six-year-old Lauren from Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.

“Lauren loves music – that’s one of her big things at school,” says mum Lesley, who is bringing her daughter for the third session of a six-week block of intensive therapy.

“It’s marvellous how they can work with them here. I’ve got a lot of the equipment at home, but I’ve got a nine-year-old as well, so it’s just balancing everything out.”

Lauren’s eyes dance happily as Rina and another therapist work to associate playing with changing the abnormal muscle movements in her arm.

Rina also uses touch to help reinforce her communication with Lauren, such as a tap on the arm for “stop” or a tap on the chest for “again”.

Realistic targets - or “smart goals” – are set for each child and parent to achieve by the end of each block of treatment. Towards the end of a block, parents are encouraged to lead the sessions.

They are also given a DVD of filmed sessions, plus laminated activity cards, so they can continue the Bobath principles with their children at home.

“In Bobath, everything is done in a functional or fun setting, rather than passive stretching of legs and arms,” says Rina.

“We can’t change what happens in the brain, but things start changing at a muscular level – and that we can influence.”

The South African-born therapist joined the Scottish charity two years ago, and says she is impressed by how it compares internationally.

“In other countries, therapists work privately and wouldn’t have a centre like we have,” she explains.

Bobath therapy was invented by a husband-and-wife team: she a physiotherapist, he a psychiatrist. It costs more than £4000 to provide a six-week block of the therapy to each child, and the charity must generate around £1.2m a year.

The NHS funds around 25% of this, while the remainder is met by grants from charitable trusts and fundraising events, including the Dragon Boat Challenge regatta on Loch Lomond and the Bike For Bobath cycle ride from Glasgow to Balloch.

Major funders who helped meet the £350,000 cost of moving to and modifying the new premises include the Bradbury Foundation, the Celtic Charity Fund, Wooden Spoon, the Clothworkers’ Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Hilton in the Community Foundation and the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland.

The first floor of the building houses offices and staff areas, while the top floor is being rented out to generate income for the charity and the basement is used to store equipment.

Chief executive Roy Hudson says: “The big thing for us, now that we’re here, is to really push forward to treat as many children as we can.

“There are still a lot of children with cerebral palsy out there who we are not seeing.

“We’ve got to do that within a budget, and that is a big issue. This year is going to be an interesting one because of the financial climate that we’re in.”