A Childrens Low Cost Clinic in Cardigan
"Working with children is such fun" said one of the homeopaths who run the low cost children's clinic in Cardigan, Wales.
The original group of four homeopaths set up the clinic in November 2002 in a room next door to a young people's drop-in centre, with a mums and toddlers group on the other side. Fortunately the room was rent free.
In the summer of 2004 they moved to a quieter venue at the local alternative health centre which makes the service more accessible to school children and working parents.
The initial impetus to set up the clinic grew from the homeopaths' observations that children often respond very positively to homeopathic treatment fro common ailments. They hoped that by offering low cost treatment with a maximum fee of £15 that even the poorest families couls afford homeopathy rather than opting for possibly suppressive medication, resulting in chronic ill health which is much harder to cure.
The donation from HAT was predominently used for publicity and marketing purposes. They took out an ad in the local press and were lucky enough to have an article published. Initially some of the money went towards rent on their new room and now they are very happy to be at the point that they are entirely self-financing.
This enthusiastic group of homeopaths is pleased with the way their clinic is going - client numbers are increasing, word is getting around, and they are seeing good results from their treatment. They are looking forward to open the clinic up to using two rooms every Saturday and involve more local homeopaths or encourage others to set up similar schemes. One of the founders has already moved on to help set up another Saturday clinic in Carmarthen, seeing people with acute ailments on a low cost basis.