Latest Blogs

What’s one of the things you fear most about growing older? Developing a disability? Not being able to get out and about anymore? Needing help around the home? Not being able to wash or dress yourself? Falling and breaking a hip? We know that loss of muscle strength as we age is closely linked to all of the above. The good news is that losing your strength – and the functional ability that comes with it – as you age isn’t inevitable. Undertaking exercises to strengthen your bones and muscles and improve your balance are very effective for reducing your risk of developing some of these health

As I write, we are waiting for the Chancellor to give his spending review speech to Parliament. In theory this should be the big reveal for the new government’s public spending priorities. However, so many pending commitments have been pre announced by ministers or trailed in the media that we have some sense of what to expect. Social care The CSP would welcome any additional funding for social care. Social care is particularly important to physiotherapists and physio support workers. They often work at the interface with social care and see first-hand the impact of restricted funding on their

We are all home now and digesting what was an amazing period for everyone involved. I will confess I miss leaving my washing outside my door only for it to return neatly pressed the next morning. I also am not a fan of this new found fad called “cooking”, I mean, where is my 20-station buffet?! Travelling with a Special Olympics squad is not easy, you are mentally “on duty” 24 hours for the entirety of the trip and, whereas other sports coaches involvement may end when the athlete steps off the field of play, our volunteers support athletes from waking to going to bed and everything in between

I hope you’ve all noticed through the media how well #TeamSOGB are getting along in Abu Dhabi. While we know that Special Olympics is about far more than just the medals, the guys in the squad have bought into and stuck by the values they themselves set out (below). Thus, they are reaping the rewards. So much so that GB have on a couple of occasions reached the top of the medals table. Again, I should point out that the celebration of Special Olympics competition isn’t primarily on the end goal of winning medals but the power of competition and sport to change lives. It gives a conduit through

Hello everyone. Firstly and most importantly I must right a wrong in the previous blog post. Nicola Turner is indeed coach for artistic gymnastics, not athletics (sorry Nicola, can we be friends again?) So, the opening ceremony has come and gone and I think it's fair to say it was an exceptional experience! Inspirational words from athletes, Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver and others; meeting Sebastian Coe was a great experience for many of our athletes and, I think, they feel it gave them credibility as athletes. If you haven’t yet, you can download the ESPN player app and, without

As I sit here it's snowing in parts of the UK and in spite of it being winter here, I’ve got factor 50 sun cream on. Right now, Aileen, myself, Nicola, Karen and Magalie are in the United Arab Emirates - travelling as part of a 180 strong delegation representing Great Britain. We are supporting athletes with intellectual disabilities (learning disabilities) or as they're referred to here, People of Determination, to compete in The Special Olympics World Summer Games. The lesser-known and non-government funded Special Olympics differs from the Olympics or Paralympics in so much as all athletes

November is the TUC’s young workers month, an opportunity to give special attention to the young workforce and young trade unionists. Next year the TUC and affiliated unions are stepping things up and running campaigning, organising and recruitment activity throughout the year. It’s a response to the stark numbers: less than eight percent of workers aged 16-24 are in a union. Not because the jobs that young workers do are well-paid, with fantastic conditions. To the contrary, for many young workers, it’s the opposite. And many are not aware of their rights at work. The issues facing young

A recent WHO report estimated that more than a quarter of people worldwide - 1.4 billion - are not doing enough physical exercise. In the UK, inactivity levels in 2016 were 36 per cent overall – 32 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women. We know that inactivity raises the risk of a raft of health problems, such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and some cancers. So why is it that the amount of people not doing enough has barely risen since 2001? Our own polling echoes the WHO’s findings, revealing 30 per cent of people with long term conditions are completely inactive each week. Whether it’s

As people receive their July pay packets, I am acutely aware of the complexity of the deal now beginning to be implemented for the England NHS and I know there has also been some recent confusion about what people can expect to receive and when. As a result, I thought it would be helpful to summarise the overall deal but in particular to highlight some useful new resources that should assist. The most complicated part of the agreement has always been the reform element, as 1 million NHS staff move from the old to the new pay and banding system, with a three-year transition period between the

The CSP motto translates roughly as ‘pursue worthy aims’ and for me encapsulates perfectly what it means to be both a physiotherapist and a trade unionist. While working as a junior physiotherapist, I started out as a CSP steward 32 years ago and pursuing worthy aims was very much my goal. I wanted to help my patients, my colleagues and the NHS hospital in which I worked. NHS staff have kept the lights on during the toughest of times Fast forward to six months ago, when I joined other health trade unions to begin negotiating a new pay deal for NHS staff in England, that same feeling drove us