There has been a quite extraordinary response to my request for the commercial sponsorship of Stage X this week. Yesterday's news was all about finding a main sponsor, Chapman Ventilation. Soon after that, I had a call with one of the owners of a local physiotherapy company. Quite soon into the conversation with Vicky Smith of Taylored Fit Physio I knew that I'd be a perfect fit for them and they would be for me.
Vicky's enthusiasm was quite evident right from the start. I brought her up to speed with a potted history of the Run Geordie Run journey and she declared that she was more than happy to be on board as a sponsor.
Getting a new sponsor is always an amazing feeling. Knowing that their money is going to benefit St. Benedict's Hospice makes it all worthwhile. Having a sponsor that shares your same passion, enthusiasm and vision is the icing on the cake. Just like my other sponsors, I firmly believe that Taylored Fit Physio ticks this box and then some.
As an aside, their premises in Langley Park is quite near to where my Dad grew up. They are situated in a renovated old Baptist Chapel. It wouldn't surprise me if my Dad, who was a professional musician, was once heard on the church organ there. I know that later in life he had a residency at a social club in Langley Park. That was my Mam's housekeeping money! You'll please forgive me for getting slightly sentimental, but to have this logo on my shirt means a lot to me on numerous levels.
Now to the nuts and bolts of what my new sponsor is all about. Following the conversation with Vicky it became apparent that her large multi-disciplinary team offer many different services and treatments. I must admit, that some of them were new to me. It is summed up perfectly on their website "....we’re incredibly proud of our friendly, approachable, talented and knowledgeable team.
We have combined our years of experience and expertise to create a physiotherapy, health and wellness centre you can trust.
Together, we provide physiotherapy, craniosacral therapy, acupuncture, sports massage, podiatry, chiropody, bowen therapy, traditional chinese medicine, acupuncture and holistic treatments and deliver a range of physio led pilates, aerial yoga, reiki and qigong classes.".
Owners Mark and Vicky (pictured below) must be extremely proud of the business they have built. It's not difficult to see how Taylored Fit Physio were award winners at last year's North East Business Awards.
After speaking to Vicky, I had a good look about online to see what else I could learn. The Taylored Fit Physio social media presence is very informative as it is impressive. As well as reading about the staff, I really enjoyed taking a 3D walkthrough of their "Physiotherapy, Health and Wellness Centre" on the website.
I think this text from the website tells you a lot about the vast array of benefits they offer to their customers both young and old. "We offer a wide range of personalised physiotherapy treatments for adults and babies and run a series of classes, all from our renovated chapel in Langley Park, Durham.
Why are we called Taylored Fit? Because we care about you! We take time to understand you, your symptoms, your aims and your requiements and we and use our clinical reasoning and expertise to ‘taylor fit’ our treatments to suit you and help you get the best results we possibly can.
Whether your goal is to gain a diagnosis or a self-management plan, or if you’re looking for a course of treatment to help you until your symptoms have resolved… we’re here to help.
We also run classes, such as Pilates and yoga, which allow you to have fun whilst reaping the fitness and wellbeing benefits.".
So that's the next piece of the jigsaw slotted in as I prepare for the gruelling 250 mile course around Northumberland in just over 90 days time. The spaces on the kit are starting to fill up nicely.
Another surprising connection to Taylored Fit Physio comes in the form of one of their current staff who has played an instrumental part in my journey around the world so far. I am, of course, referring to Jason Stobbs (Stobbsy) who was part of my own support team in Australia and Europe.
It seems fitting to finish with a heartfelt thank you to Taylored Fit Physio and also get Stobbsy's view of things. "Being at Tayloredfit, is a great clinic environment with a multitude of professionals. I thoroughly enjoy being part of the team and love that the staff and the clients form a strong community. The rapport between the clients and the staff is fantastic and I feel like Tayloredfit is aligned with my ethos.
I went into this line of work to help people and I feel that Tayloredfit is all about this.".
