Physiotherapy Matters teams up with St Oswald’s Hospice to aid runners’ recovery
September 12, 2016
Participants in this year’s Great North Run had some expert help after they crossed the finishing line, thanks to Physiotherapy Matters.
We teamed up with St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle to offer post-race massages to runners fundraising for the charity – and helped more than 100 people recover from the stresses and strains of the world’s biggest half marathon.
The aim of our massage treatment was to ease the stiffness in muscles, increase blood flow and assist in lactic acid removal: this helps the overall recovery process and reduces the chance of delayed onset muscle soreness.
St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth – which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year – aims to make the most of time and improve quality of life for everyone in the North East living with an incurable condition, and their families. The hospice has both inpatient and outpatient facilities, and cares for adults, young people and children.
Four of our staff gave up their time to work in St Oswald’s post-race charity tent and provided mats and foam rollers for stretches, plus four treatment beds for massage therapy.
Physiotherapy Matters also provided a range of training tips for the hospice’s 400 charity runners in the build-up to the race.
Nick Livadas, clinical manager at Physiotherapy Matters, said:
“St Oswald’s Hospice is a fantastic local charity on the doorstep of our Gosforth practice, and makes a real difference to our community. We are very proud to support St Oswald’s in its 30th anniversary year and were delighted to have used our physiotherapy expertise to help the hospice’s runners following their tremendous fundraising efforts this year.
“It was a very busy day for our team, who worked with participants non-stop throughout the afternoon, and we hope that there will be a few less aches and pains for St Oswald’s Hospice’s Great North runners this week as a result!”
Helen Alderson, Fundraiser at St Oswald’s Hospice said:
“We were delighted to have the team from Physiotherapy Matters join us at our Charity Village Tent for the Great North Run. We strive to make our runners feel valued and give them a hero’s welcome when they finish their run. By offering complimentary massages, as well as a range of refreshments including ice cream, hugs and high fives, our supporters not only felt appreciated, but the skilled staff from Physiotherapy Matters ensured that their aching muscles got a bit of TLC, making the following day a little less painful!
“The team from Physiotherapy Matters were so relaxed and professional. It was a busy day, as we had almost 400 runners representing St Oswald’s! Everyone seemed eager to join the massage queue and we spoke to many runners who expressed their delight at being offered the chance to warm down properly.
“We would like to say a big thank you to Physiotherapy Matters for being part of Team St Oswald’s and helping us to give our runners a great experience when they completed the event.”
For more information on St Oswald’s Hospice, visit www.stoswaldsuk.org