Parents & Carers guide

Health & Safety

• The comfort of all guests and partners in the session is paramount. Please take the time to ensure each guest is happy and settled before the session begins.

• Where possible, encourage guests to come out of their wheelchairs and help guests onto beanbags where they can be comfortably supported with pillows and cushions.

• We like guests and partners to remove coats and footwear, and advise to take off socks for safety as the session room floor can be slippery.

Notes before the session begins

• We ask that partner’s support each guest’s movements gently in the session. Please do not force or manipulate.

• In some sessions, guests are free to explore and move around the space so please partner them to do so safely.

• The Session Leaders are the facilitators of each session, but it is you as partners who are responsible for each guest in the session. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions you may have and we will be at hand to help wherever we can.

• Finally, please turn off or silence all mobiles and devices, as these interrupt the course of the session and can be a distraction for all taking part.

How the session will unfold and what to expect from Session Leaders

• Depending on the guest and/or the group, your Touch Trust session can last anything up to one hour.

• The Session Leaders will guide guests and their partners through the session programme and we ask that you involve yourself in all sections of the programme. We will be at hand to help you support each guest.

• The Touch Trust programme works with an exploration of energy changes throughout, and we work with the two basic rhythms in everyone- the breath and the heartbeat rhythm. Appropriate music will accompany and complement these energy changes.

• Your session will start in a lively way leading into a sound activity. We will then move into a calmer energy with focus on breathing and massage. From here the energy will lift again as we move through a percussion section into a more enlivened state with emphasis on dance and free movement. The energy will then become more relaxed as we move into a focused movement activity. We allow plenty of time for relaxation at the end.

• Our aim as Session Leaders is to enable individuals and the group to have a positive and successful experience in their session.

Please be open to and embrace the flow of the session. It will be fun, encouraging and rewarding for all.

What we expect from you throughout the session

• The Touch Trust programme is heavily reliant on your interaction with each guest working in a ‘special partnership’ with each other.

• Please do give all your attention and focus to the guest. Share eye contact, smiles and voice to maintain a close connection throughout.

• Listen to and watch the guest in order to respond with authenticity to their actions, reactions and movements as the session unfolds.

• Praise and enjoyment are an essential aspect of the session so please join in clapping and praising each guest’s contributions and achievements, however minimal they may seem!

• We find ways to give choices in the session. Guests will make choices about what they want and what they don’t want. Please be patient, observe the guest closely and honour these choices.

• The Touch Trust programme is about each guest’s self expression in a nurturing and happy atmosphere, individually and as part of a group. Please embrace this experience also. The more you relax and the more enjoyment you get, the more the guest will too!

We ask for your total commitment to the guest in their session and your continual support, encouragement and motivation.