Michael Palin and Emily Thornberry will be attending a reception at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, Finsbury Health Centre, London EC1 on Thursday 21 December at 12 noon.
Britain's leading centre for children who stammer was facing a cash crisis because of upheavals in NHS funding and referral arrangements but now an American charity, the Stuttering Foundation of America, has stepped in with financial support for its work over the next two years.
Michael Palin will be available for photographs and will speak briefly to the press, but will not be able to give interviews. Michael supports the Centre because his own father suffered a lifetime of frustration and anxiety caused by a severe stammer. He says:
"I'm enormously proud of the painstaking way in which our therapists, the children and their parents confront and deal with the problem together as a team. This shared approach is the reason why our first 13 years have been so successful. We are hugely grateful to the Stuttering Foundation for their generous support."
Jane Fraser, President of the Stuttering Foundation, says:
"We're delighted to be supporting the Michael Palin Centre in its important work. We look forward to working closely with the Centre over the next two years to help children who stammer through treatment, training programmes and research".
NHS income to the Michael Palin Centre has dropped off significantly this year because of changes in NHS funding and commissioning arrangements. This has meant that children from across London and the UK can't get the funding for therapy they need. Whilst referrals for treatment from Islington Primary Care Trust have continued, those from other areas have dropped off. Local MP Emily Thornberry has called on London health bosses to ensure PCTs across London can refer their local children to this specialist centre and to make sure that the Centre has long-term funding.
Emily Thornberry MP says
"Islington children get a first class service from the Michael Palin Centre. We need to make sure that all children across London and the rest of the UK get the help they need too"
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