insideKENT Magazine Issue 68 - November 2017 | Page 162

CHARITY
Kent Charity Profile:
THE HARMONY THERAPY TRUST
GOING THROUGH TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS IS A
NECESSARY BUT USUALLY DEEPLY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. THE
HARMONY THERAPY TRUST (THTT), BASED ON THE ISLE OF SHEPPEY,
IS THERE TO HELP PEOPLE GOING THROUGH THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.
THIS MONTH, insideKENT’S LISAMARIE LAMB SPOKE TO FOUNDER,
DAWN COCKBURN, TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO.
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What is it that The Harmony
Therapy Trust does? Why is the work that The Harmony Therapy
Trust does so important?
It provides free supportive and therapeutic
therapy as part of integrated healthcare, to
Kent NHS patients living with cancer or other
serious chronic life-altering illnesses. These
Kent patients are referred to us by hospitals,
hospices and GPs throughout Kent (and other
London hospitals) for us to provide emotional
and wellbeing support using either touch
therapies like reflexology and massage,
through to the talking therapies such as
counselling, stress management,
hypnotherapy and bereavement support. With
more than 100 self-employed and voluntary
therapists registered with us throughout the
county, no matter in what region of Kent a
patient referred to us lives, we can match
them fairly closely to a therapist in their
postcode area. When you are diagnosed with a serious life-
altering illness, worry and uncertainty
permeates day-to-day life despite the fact that
our wonderful doctors and nurses work hard
to ensure treatment and recovery with
research improving all the time to find cures.
The treatments THTT offer are gentle, relaxing,
non-invasive and supportive. We are also a
listening ear. It’s now widely accepted within
the NHS that emotional wellbeing and learning
to relax can greatly assist recovery and/or
support the patient during some of their
darkest times. Our NHS system, with all the
demands upon it, simply do not have time
nor resources to rise to this challenge of
integrated healthcare and this is where
charities like THTT play a vital role. It costs the
Trust only £100 to provide six free treatments
as the therapists provide their services at a rate
far below commercial fees, and also donate
one treatment in every six totally free of charge.
Several provide their services for no fee at all.
What is the charity’s history?
I was inspired by The Sara Lee Trust, a charity
working out of St Michaels Hospice in
Hastings. This charity supported her late sister
Sylvia with therapy during her cancer journey,
and during the many drives back and forth
from Sheppey to Fairlight (East Sussex) in early
spring 2010 to assist Sylvia, I had time to reflect
on why there was nothing similar available in
Kent. I drew a group of friends together, told
them what I wanted to do and on 5th May
2010 THTT was born on Sheppey.