Bobath Centre Training Session March 2023

The National Bobath Cerebral Palsy Centre (The Bobath Centre) was the original home of the Bobath Approach, providing therapy to those living with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and similar neurological conditions. Its services were available to people of all ages The Bobath Centre was also a specialist, national training facility for health professionals and therapists. Physiotherapy,

Occupational Therapy Occupational therapy (OT), also known as ergotherapy, is a healthcare profession. Ergotherapy is derived from the Greek wiktionary:ergon, ergon which is allied to work, to act and to be active. Occupational therapy is based on the assumption t ...

and Speech and Language Therapy, specifically.

History

The Bobath Centre was founded by husband and wife partnership

Berta Bobath Berta Bobath, MBE (December 5, 1907 – January 20, 1991) was a German physiotherapist who created a method of rehabilitation and therapy known as the Bobath concept in 1948. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy believe "it is the most popular ...

and Dr Karel Bobath who developed the

Bobath concept The Bobath concept is an approach to neurological rehabilitation that is applied in patient assessment and treatment (such as with adults after stroke or children with cerebral palsy). The goal of applying the Bobath concept is to promote moto ...

. Originally, The Bobath Centre was located in East End Road,

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, with most of East F ...

, a

grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. The buildings occupied by the centre were the former Holy Trinity School designed by

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

, who also designed

Holy Trinity East Finchley Holy Trinity East Finchley is a Church of England church in Church Lane, East Finchley, London. It is a grade II listed building with Historic England. It was funded by the Salvin family and their friends, including Lord Mansfield of Kenwood. I ...

, and the former Industrial School. The construction of the original school was funded by the Salvin family and their friends, including Lord Mansfield of Kenwood. On 21 May 2024 the centre announced that it would close on 31 May, citing funding challenges triggered by the Government Austerity strategy and lack of support from the NHS.

References

External links

The Bobath Centre
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Barnet Defunct schools in the London Borough of Barnet Cerebral palsy organizations Anthony Salvin {{London-school-stub