Christmas Newsletter
You can download it here
Christmas Bookings
We are taking Christmas bookings! The diary is beginning to fill up for December so please call soon to get booked in and avoid disappointment.The clinic will close for the Christmas holidays on Friday 22nd December so book early and don't forget to collect any gift vouchers before this date to surprise someone this Christmas.
Introductory Open Day
On Saturday 23rd June our new therapists will be in the clinic offering free consultations and taster massage treatments. If you've ever wondered if massage could be of benefit to you then here's your opportunity to find out by trying them out or discussing your own needs with a trained therapist. Sessions will be 10 minutes and are available between 10am and 12 noon. If you would like to book then please contact the clinic and we will be happy to get you booked in, otherwise just turn up on the day and enjoy a coffee and a chat while you wait.
Read more about our new therapists in the "About Us" section.
New treatments New Therapists
Exciting news! From May 1st I will be joined at the clinic by two new sports massage therapists Penny and Vicki who bring their own blend of sport and fitness. Vicki is an experienced personal trainer and nutritional advisor with a special interest in helping people look at food and nutrition as a way of life rather than a diet. Appointments or consultations can be booked with either therapist via the clinic.
Read more about them in the "About Us" section.
My Latest Newsletter
Merry Christmas to you all!
It's that time of year again!
Well how does December come round so fast? I hope you have all had a fabulous year and this newsletter finds you well. I have had a quieter year in some respects but with busy clinics and opportunities as always. The clinic now situated in Meadowfield has proved to be the best move as I am able to add hours offering more appointment times than ever before. As always I am planning ahead and looking forward to the clinic 'coming of age' as we celebrate 18 years of therapeutic massage in Ponteland.
As always the clinic will be looking festive from 1st December and there will be the usual sweet treats to tempt you. This year I am doing things differently and asking for you help in supporting a local charity for two gorgeous girls with a life limiting illness. So please do help yourself to sweets, mince pies and Christmas tree ornaments (all handmade) and be kind enough to put a donation of choice in the snowman provided. More details of the charity I am supporting are below... in pink as it the chosen colour of Nicole and Jessica.
Gift vouchers
Gift vouchers will be available up to Friday 22nd December and are always popular at Christmas. They can be emailed direct to your inbox for you to print, posted or collected from the clinic. All posted and collected vouchers can be gift wrapped to make them something extra special to open on Christmas morning. Gift the gift of well being this year.
To help spread the joy of Christmas further I will make a donation to the Nicole Rich Foundation from each gift voucher bought in December.
The Nicole Rich Foundation
As I mentioned above I will be supporting a local charity this year. The Nicole Rich Foundation was set up for two delightful sisters from Throckley who have both been diagnosed with Batten Disease. Sadly there is no cure and a prognosis of a shortened lifespan not expected to extend into teenage years. However, they are both undergoing a trial with treatment in Germany and at Great Ormond Street Hospital with much support from family and friends. The girls are Nicole and Jessica and they have a fabulous big brother Louis who looks after them along side mum Gail and dad Matthew. I have been busy making Christmas decorations all with a chocolate and Christmas theme and often pink (for the girls favourite colour). Please help yourself to sweets, cake and decorations but be kind enough to put a donation in the snowman provided.. you'll see him when you get there!
For more information on Nicole and Jessica please click for the Nicole Rich Foundation
To further help the charity I am offering to do you all a favour when it comes to Christmas. For a few years I have volunteered to wrap Christmas presents for Marie Curie and the Children's Foundation and I love it! I have trained staff in a perfumery and in hotels to gift wrap and I'm offering to do it this year on your behalf... for a donation. You provide the gifts and paper and I'll do the rest. I don't mind odd shapes but remember books make a great present! I request you give me notice as it takes time to make gifts look attractive.
*This is a limited offer on a strictly first come first served basis so please act quickly if you want to take me up on the offer!
Gift vouchers available Find out more about gift wrapping on Facebook
Please note
The clinic will close Friday 22nd December and reopen Thursday 4th January.
Please ensure you have your gift vouchers before the 22nd to avoid disappointment.
Published author! Earlier this year I was asked to contribute a chapter on massage for a therapy book. Read the chapter in full here
"A Professionals' Guide to 30 Holistic, Healing and Complementary Therapies"
Read the chapter here Therapeutic Massage Chapter
Buy the book at Amazon
Summer Newsletter
The summer newsletter is now available in the clinic with the latest developments. This includes details of the price increase, an updated First Aid certificate and my new adventure as a published author. Or you can download a copy here: Summer Newsletter
Price increase
Pricing in the clinic has remained stable for the past three years but rising costs mean the annual price rise is happening from 1st June 2017. All new prices can be seen on the tariff page.
Congratulations, you made it to the finish line! If your efforts have left you feeling battered and bruised or eager to get running again then here are some tips to aid recovery
Download leaflet here
Preparing for the Great North Run? Check out the latest blog post with 13 tips for 13 miles.
New professional practice qualifications
I have recently been providing soft tissue therapy for he English Institute (EIS) of Sport at Gateshead Stadium. As part of their commitment and mine to ensuring high professional standards and safe practice I have completed the following training.
An Introduction to Data Protection Health & Safety programme Level 2 Child Protection in Sport and Active Leisure Level 2 Safeguarding Adults Level 2 Equality and Diversity.
DBS check updated
"Disclosure and Barring Service" which was formerly known as "Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check"
News archive
Some recent client feedback, "A big THANK YOU for all your help and support over the years. I have been glad to enjoy your professional help and perhaps more especially to have enjoyed your friendship", Jacqui.
"I really don't know what I would have done without you all these years", Leona.
"You kept me on my feet!", Sylvia.
A special winter treatment designed to help you relax and unwind at this busy festive season. 45 minutes of de-stressing massage only £30.00, gift vouchers available!
The clinic raised over £100 for charity from donations during the 15th anniversary in June. I gave the first cheque to Macmillan Cancer Support, donations raised £30 which I matched to make a £60 donation. More to follow next week.
The 15th anniversary of the clinic is delivering some lovely comments and the free gifts are going down really well.
This month the clinic is celebrating 15 years of Therapeutic Massage in Ponteland. There are free gifts and the chance to win gifts and treatmtents for everyone who visits in this birthday month.
The new clinic in Ponteland is proving to be a really good move, in fact so much so I have decided to concentrate my appointments here. It is with some sadness that I have made the decision to leave the Sandyford and Hexham clinics for the foreseeable future. I do hope this doesn't inconvenience any of you too much and I look forward to welcoming you very soon to my new home in Ponteland.
From March 16th I will be working in my new clinic in Ponteland. I am delighted with this venue, which will give me much more scope for flexibility of appointments in this area. I shall continue to work at Hexham and Sandyford. Here is the letter I have sent to my current Ponteland clients.
Here I am working in Manchester on October 20th at the Professional Beauty North Exhibition as a Lava Shell Massage Angel.
I'm now offering Lava Shell Relax - enjoy a massage with the gorgeous heat, such a treat!
Here we all are in the Hampden Park sunshine ready for anything the athletes need.
Finally near the end of the Grand Depart and still smiling in the pouring rain at the top of yet another hill! Unfortunately my inexperience meant I got lost on route so didn't complete it all but happy with what I did do. This time last year I couldn't ride a bike so feel I have still achieved and of course... there's always next year!
All ready at the start of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire. 100 miles of cycling ahead of me and feeling very nervous at this point!
Thanks to the lovely guys at St John's Ambulance in Newcastle my First Aid training is fully up to date. added May 2014
NEW The Lava Shell Rescue Massage, the UK's latest heat and ice therapy has arrived. The perfect treatment to ease muscle tension and work away painful trigger points in tight muscle tissue.
NEW The Lava Shell Back and Neck Massage is now available! Let the gentle heat of the shells, along with the therapists hands, release tension and melt away aches and pains.
Christmas Newsletter. Get your gift vouchers here!
Christmas newsletter added Dec 3rd 2013
Exciting news! I have accepted a post as a Sports Massage Therapist at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. I am officially a Clydesider!
Two new CPD workshops for bodywork therapists at The Therapy Centre, Hexham on 7th and 8th December 2013.
CPD workshop for bodywork therapists added Nov 13th 2013
CPD workshop for bodywork therapists added Nov 13th 2013
Thanks to everyone who came along to the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. I am delighted to report you raised £652.75 in a couple of hours on a Saturday morning at St. Mary's Church Hall in Ponteland. Many thanks, hope to see you next year.
Fabulous day at the Great North Run on Sunday massaging all the weary runners raising funds for St Oswald's Hospice. Well done to everyone who ran and can the organisers please organise better weather next year?!
Had my first experience of working in the madness of the Tough Mudder event, a 12 mile run with 25 'obstacles' in the way. The last obstacle was to run through mud and puddles while trying to avoid tiny electric shocks! Glad I was in the massage area but well done to all those Scots who completed this one in Dalkeith, Edinburgh. One highlight was meeting this cuddly soldier!
I will be teaching the ITEC Level 4 Sports Massage Certificate at Sunderland University for the Performance Clinic. The course begins 29th August and runs for two weeks as an intensive study course. Contact the Performance Clinic at Northumbria University for more details.
New ITEC Level 3 Certificate in Holistic Massage starting September 2013. The course will run for one weekend each month until the exam in April. Practical sessions will be held in Harrogate with tutorial support in either Harrogate or Newcastle. For more details contact Sylvia Brearley on 01423 505707.
Had a great day at the European Team Championships in Gateshead looking after guests and watching some world class athletics. Was lucky enough to see Team GB and NI win both the men's and the women's 4x4 relay helping them to gain third place overall.
I have agreed to be part of the Sports Massage Team at this years Great North Run for those running for St Oswalds Hospice. It is a fabulous local facility that I have been connected with for many years as a supporter and trainer. Any therapists who are available would be very welcome to join us for what I know from experience will be an amazing and uplifting day. Good luck to everyone who is training right now, see you at the end.
Completed my Kinesio UK Taping course in London and was very impressed with the variety of uses. It was originally used almost thirty years ago to aid lymphatic drainage but is how heavily used in sport. It can be helpful in sporting or non-sporting injury, muscle imbalance and neuromuscular dysfunction. For more details or to try it as part of your massage therapy please contact the clinic. The tape will be included in the usual fees where appropriate but can be purchased for home use once cut to your individual requirements.
Thanks to the lovely Katherine Jenkins who is a Macmillan supporter I was part of a volunteer team collecting money at the Newcastle arena last Sunday. She very kindly left us tickets for the show with Il Divo and we had very good seats near the front so many thanks for that. A fabulous show and we raised £1705.60 for Macmillan Cancer Support thanks to all those generous Geordie fans. A really great night.
Had a fabulous day at Street Spice in Newcastle on Saturday working as a First Aider. Well not actually 'working' as thankfully nobody called on me. Just enjoyed the lovely Asian street food.
The Complementary Therapists Association (www.ctha.com)has offered ITEC tutors free membership. The Asociation works to help train therapists and give help and guidance to the public. Not often you get something for free!
Article in Newcastle Sunday Sun Helen's Holistic Facial added Nov 24th 2012
It was lovely to see some of you at the Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning and I am pleased to tell you we raised £615.00. As a member of the Macmillan Cancer Support Committee in Ponteland I am really delighted with the sum raised in one morning. Many thanks to everyone who supported us.
Well I am back from my time in the Olympic/Paralympic bubble and joining the real world again! I had the most amazing time as those of you who have read the diary will know. Getting back into the routine again now and clinics busy at Darras and Jesmond with teaching starting again soon. Thank you for your patience while I have been away and all the kind messages. I look forward to catching up with everyone very soon.
All excited here as I am packing to leave to work as a sports massage therapist at the Athletes' Village during the Paralympic Games. I return on 11th September but will be able to reply to messages during that time so please feel free to get in touch. Many thanks for all of you who have sent good wishes, they are very much appreciated.
New dates have been issued for the ITEC Level 3 Certificate in Sports Massage which will begin on 29th and 30th September 2013. The course will run one weekend a month until the exam in March 2013 at the Sylvia Brearley School in Harrogate. More details are available on the ITEC page of the website.
I was honoured to be asked to receive a cheque on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support on Wednesday evening. The cheque was for a very generous £1,000.00 from Mr. John Morris of the Ponteland Lions. Along with Jan Watson and Janet Medcalf (not present) I am a member of the Ponteland Macmillan Committee and involved in raising awareness and helping with fundraising in the area. Our thanks to the Lions for this cheque which will do so much good in helping support people with cancer.
NEW CLINIC! I have recently opened a new clinic in Jesmond. I went along on a Friday morning to speak with the owner and practice manager and started the following week! I am at the Osborne Clinic on Osborne Avenue and it is a really lovely clinic with a strong reputation for almost 25 years. Oddly I was a client of the previous owner of the clinic more years back then I care to remember! The clinic has a lovely feel to it and I am really excited about working there. Appointments are available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but I will monitor things and maybe look to make some changes when I return from the Paralympics in September. In the meantime you now have more appointments available and three venues to chose from so I hope this makes it easier for you to find a convenient appointment time. I look forward to seeing you in Jesmond and would welcome any feedback on my new venture.
Well I did my zip wire off the Tyne Bridge on Saturday and have survived to tell the tale! It is very scary sitting on the edge of the bridge and leaning forward but just for that short few seconds then it is amazing! Very exciting but I did feel perfectly safe and able to enjoy the ride. Haven't got all the sponsor money collected yet but will give you an update soon. Thanks to everyone who supported me on the day and with sponsor money for Arthritis Research UK, here are a couple of photographs (one an action shot!) just to prove I did do it.
I have a vey busy weekend coming up and have a feeling the weather is not going to be kind to me! On Saturday 16th June I am doing a zip wire across the Tyne to raise money for Arthritis Research Uk! I am starting to get a bit nervous and no doubt you will hear my screams across the north east. I will let you know how it goes but wish me luck, it is a very good cause.
Following success in January the Myofascial Techniques and Trigger Point Therapy workshops are being repeated in July. The workshops give therapists an excellent opportunity to learn new skills they can start using immediately to improve their practice, help more clients and ultimately improve business. Myofascial is Friday 20th with Trigger Points on Saturday 21st July. For more details see the school website or contact me via the email. Courses are being held at the Sylvia Brearley School in Harrogate.
Article in Newcastle Journal with Helen's Health Tips added May 23rd 2012
Article in Newcastle Sunday Sun about Helen's Sports Massage added May 16th 2012
I attended the 2012 Rheumatology Patient Conference at the Newcastle Freeman Hospital on Saturday. It was a really informative day, so many arthritis sufferers getting on with life and looking for ways to self-manage it was very uplifting. It seems Newcastle is very much at the forefront of research and the medical team supportive and knowledgeable. I would recommend future meetings to arthritis patients and therapists alike, I'm sure you would get a lot out of it.
Exciting news! Following a recent interview I have been offered a role as a sports massage therapist at the Paralympics! This not only provides a once in a lifetime experience of being part of the olympics while they are in the UK but a chance to work with athletes from so many different disciplines. I am in London for a training day in May and will keep you posted with my progress.
I have decided to take some time away from teaching as work is taking me in another direction for the moment. I will be running CPD workshops later in the year but the long running ITEC courses will not resume until 2013. I am really looking forward to concentrating on new areas and I'm sure this will all add to my experiences to bring to teaching.
TWO NEW WORKSHOPS FOR THERAPISTS beginning January 2012. Trigger Point Therapy on Friday 27th January and Myofascial Release Saturday 28th January both accredited by the FHT for insurance purposes and held in Harrogate. For full details please go to 'School' then 'CPD'or contact the school and speak direct.
SCHOOL NEWS It has been a year of mixed tidings in one way and another. I opened a new clinic in Gosforth which is going really well but it has taken my time away from the school. Therefore I have decided to let the school room go to free up time and concentrate elsewhere. I will still be teaching but hope not having to pay rent there when I am working elsewhere will mean course fees will not have to escalate. Details of upcoming training can be found below and I look forward to moving ahead in 2012. I will simply rent premises when needed and cut costs and time.
I will be teaching the Level 4 next year and the Level 5 if there is demand, for those of you who
already have the ITEC Level 3 Sports Massage most of the work will be done by case studies and mentoring. Other examining bodies may have a different syllabus than ITEC so some lectures may be necessary. Please get in touch to discuss your individual circumstances.
As the nation becomes gripped by Strictly Fever why not think about joining a dance class? It is a great way to keep fit and flexible. Dancing provides all round fitness and there is something for everyone. I have recently begun Belly Dancing with Brooke in Jesmond and I'm finding it great for posture and core strength. Really enjoyable too! For more information contact Brooke at www.freelancedance.co.uk or on 07783421132.
EXAM SUCCESS!
I am delighted to announce that I am the first therapist to gain the "International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC) Level 5 Diploma in Sports Massage."
I passed with distinction in both theory and practical and am the first UK therapist to do so. My thanks to everyone who has visited the clinic providing challenges and opportunites to develop to this stage. Your feedback is invaluable and I am thrilled to be the first to gain this, the highest qualification available in the field. Very exciting!
Thanks to all of you who contributed to the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. It was lovely to see so many of you there and I'm delighted to say we raised £824.75!
June 2011 NEW CLINIC OPENING IN GOSFORTH
On Tuesday 7th June the Therapeutic Massage Clinic opened in "Physiotherapy Matters" in Gosforth. Clinic hours are between 9am and 6pm every Tuesday. Please call the usual Darras Hall number for apppointments.
New article about Ohashiatsu
added May 11th 2011
April 2011 NEW QUALIFICATION Helen has become one of the first in the country to graduate in the new ITEC Level 4 Certificate in Sports Massage
Had a fantastic inspiring day offering post event sports massage at the Great North Run. I provided teams for Mencap and Shelter and it was a great environment to be in with some amazing stories of what motivates someone to run a half marathon.
June 2010 OPEN EVENT at the Therapeutic Massage School Darras Hall Surgery has now reopened and the clinic is open again Monday, Thursday and Friday. Look out for new clinics coming soon in the north east
To celebrate the 10th anniversary Helen hosted a coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care. We raised £256.40 thanks to those of you who kindly left donations. My thanks also to all the local businesses who provided the refreshments and raffle prizes.
In 2007 I travelled to Bosnia Herzigovena with Pheonix to teach massage in the hospital. The staff were either nurses or physiotherapists and work predominantly with children with cerebral palsy. It was a fantastic experience but really made me appreciate the opportunities I have here.
