The world-famous Dr. Martens boot brand has stepped in to safeguard the Neurokinex charitable trust’s Step Up Scheme for another year.
Its generous donation of £20,000 was made from the Dr. Martens Foundation, an independent grant-making charity founded in 2021.
Neurokinex is the UK’s leading specialist spinal cord rehabilitation provider with sites at Gatwick, Bristol and Hemel Hempstead. Its Step Up Scheme provides a lifechanging set of six free rehab sessions to anyone with a new spinal cord injury. An absolute lifeline which enables people to access the world-class Neurokinex facilities and expertise, the Scheme costs the Neurokinex Charitable Trust £450 per person to fulfil and relies totally on funding for its survival. The Dr. Martens Foundation donation has secured this opportunity for 45 newly injured people to access Neurokinex community-based rehab soon after their discharge from hospital.
The Neurokinex Step Up Scheme was nominated by a Dr. Martens employee to receive a grant from the Dr. Martens Foundation. As a community-based spinal cord injury rehabilitation charitable trust, Neurokinex fitted well under the Foundation’s disability support programme and scored highly when reviewed by the Foundation’s board.
“When looking to award a grant we look for a good fit to our foundation’s strategy and assess the project or programme on its merit,” says Golsana Begum, Head of the Dr. Martens Foundation. “We hadn’t heard about Neurokinex before it was nominated but were immediately struck by the passion of its staff and the impact of their work. As we do for all those nominated for funding, we undertook a rigorous review of the Neurokinex service, business model, track record and financial health. We are only too pleased to support its lifechanging Step Up Scheme and are reassured to know that our support will help open the door to its ground-breaking neurorehabilitation services for newly injured adults and children.”
Since starting in 2021, the Dr. Martens Foundation has made around 140 grants and Neurokinex feels privileged to have been selected in 2024.
“I would like to thank The Dr. Martens Foundation for recognising our work and supporting our Step Up Scheme so generously,” says Kate Thornton-Jones, Neurokinex Fundraising Director. “Every year our community undertakes a Step Up Challenge to raise vital funds to secure the Step Up Scheme for another year but we also need larger grants and donations to ensure this programme can survive. The Dr. Martens Foundation grant brings us much-needed reassurance that we can meet the demand this year from newly injured people and for that we are truly grateful.”
