Last Update
January, 2022

CASE STUDY

M.S. Therapy Centre

by Julia Ford

As a long-standing tenant, it was a pleasure to have recently visited West Yorkshire M.S. Therapy Centre – who are based in one of our commercial / trade counter properties on Olympia Trading Estate. Located just off Gelderd Lane in Leeds the site provides excellent access to public transport and road connections for patients and staff alike.  

The centre is managed by Joanne and together with her team their passion and hard work is making an incredible difference to so many people’s lives across West, North & East Yorkshire. Whilst the centre predominantly provides symptom management therapies for MS sufferers, it is by no means limited to just these treatments, also offering services for people with cerebral palsy, cancer, other neurological conditions and even those with sports injuries.

Towngate first welcomed M S Therapy as a tenant to Olympia Trading Estate in 2014 and their occupation of the unit involved a complete change of use, reconfiguring the premises to house not only oxygen booths, but also therapy rooms, offices and pleasant break-out areas. The loading doors meant that equipment could be conveniently delivered straight in to the building and as the charity own a people carrier, they are able to drive patients straight in to the premises without needing to negotiate any steps. 

At the focal point of the centre are two high dose oxygen therapy chambers which can accommodate six people at any one time and a usual session would be around one hour of oxygen therapy treatment. Upon our visit, it had been a ‘quieter’ day at the centre, with 40 people using the chambers that day! A clear indication of just how many people Joanne and the team help.

The centre also offers other drug-free therapies, including: –

  • An infrared therapy sauna
  • Pilates
  • Yoga
  • Wellbeing treatments such as Bowen therapy and reflexology; and
  • Counselling

It was wonderful to hear that, with the exception of a 2-week period, the centre has been able to remain open throughout the pandemic, continuing to offer those life changing therapies. With a large proportion of the people coming through the doors being high risk, some changes have obviously had to be made, but overall, the demand for treatment at the centre has never been higher.

Being a charity, the centre is reliant on the generosity of others to continue – whether that be through fundraising events, monetary donations or volunteer work to name a few. Another reason for our visit was to meet Joanne’s son Josh who has done just that and ran the Virgin London Marathon last year to raise vital funds for the centre. Throughout his training Josh used the therapies on offer, particularly the sauna and physiotherapy bed, to keep himself fit and well – and has continued to use them post-race to aid his recovery.

These two pieces of equipment were previously donated to the centre by Towngate Plc, and now that they are both fully up and running and in regular use, it was brilliant to see the difference our contributions have made to this fantastic charity and tenant of ours.