London's first Health Shack

Aim

The healthcare system in the UK is broken! Help us to fix it, by changing the way that people think about their bodies and their health.

Musculoskeletal problems are a major area of NHS expenditure consuming over £5 billion of UK taxpayer funding every single year – that's £13 million a day!¹ Our NHS is facing a number of financial challenges, coupled with unprecedented demand but it doesn't have to be this way... Many of these problems are actually avoidable!

Musculoskeletal pain is that which affects the bones, joints, muscles, nerves, ligaments and tendons. Ongoing pain can make ordinary and everyday activities more difficult or impossible. Factors such as age, bodyweight and physical inactivity increase your risk of developing a musculoskeletal condition.² While these conditions are incredibly common, many people are blissfully unaware of why they happen and how to prevent them. These "lifestyle diseases" stop millions of people from being able to work, run a family or maintain independence – things which many of us take for granted.

Tania and her partner David have combined their business acumen and clinical expertise to provide a solution to this global epidemic. By providing alternative healthcare services, sustainable products and accessible education, our aim is to change the way people think about their body and health. By empowering lifestyles, we plan to shift attitudes from curing disease to prevention of it.

We understand the human body in great detail, know what goes wrong with it, and we also know what the body can and cannot fix for itself. We have applied this knowledge in a holistic wellness model and we are excited to share with you our plans for phase one: 

In the human body, just like any mechanism, the structure governs the function. The structural integrity of the human body is the responsibility of the bone system – the skeleton. Throughout our lives, our bodies are being pushed and pulled in multiple different directions, and if there is enough force, bones can move out of position – or become misaligned. The human body is intelligent, meaning it will fix what it can for itself. For example, if you cut your finger, your body will form a scab allowing the skin to grow back, rather than bleed to death. However, the body is limited in what it is able to fix for itself, evidenced by the fact that nobody lives forever. With regards to the body's structure, this limitation is when bones go out of place in directions which the body cannot self-correct because it has no muscle or combination of muscles pulling in the direction required to do so. Although widely practised overseas, this revolutionary method of spinal manipulation is relatively new to the UK.³

Testimonials

To view more testimonials, please visit our Facebook or Instagram social pages.

Many adults in the UK spend over 9 hours a day sitting down at work, during their commutes and watching TV. There is increasing evidence that sitting down too much can be a risk to your health. These studies have linked a sedentary lifestyle with being overweight and obese, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancers and early death.⁴ Poor sitting positions exacerbate the damage to your body, by pushing and pulling unstable segments of the spine into misalignments, from which the body cannot self-correct. Remember, there are lots of things that the body can fix for itself, and some which it simply does not have the mechanisms required to do so...

We understand that sitting is inevitable with the modern lifestyle, and our aim is to reduce the damage caused by it as much as possible. Our custom-made seat wedges are made from sustainable foam and are manufactured in the UK. They are designed with the intention to complement our Structural Correction treatments, providing a specific angle in order to support the spine. This angle positions the pelvis in its most stable position, enabling the spinal curves to assume their ideal position and disperse the weight of the body evenly throughout the whole structure.

Understanding what your body is made from, and how its systems work, is the first step to knowing what to do to look after it. However, this knowledge seems to be an exclusive secret to doctors and other medical professionals. When speaking to our local community, we found that communication is often completely lost between doctor and patient, for the simple reason that not everybody knows what is in their body – we have all experienced a time when we left the doctor's office with no clue what they said was actually going on with us! We believe that accessible information about the human body will help people understand the language used by medical professionals. Our dream is to provide this on a global stage, using the power of social media. With enough support, we would like to start a YouTube series called Anatomy 101.

Your support will go towards our start-up costs and will help us secure premises in our hometown, the London borough of Hounslow. 

The London Borough of Hounslow is one of London’s most multicultural communities and is where Tania and David both grew up, met, and have began to build a life together. The heart of Hounslow has really great transportation links, making it an accessible destination for everyone.

Hi, I’m Tania. Filipino by blood but born and raised in Hounslow, west London. As the eldest of 4 siblings and raised by a single mother, life hasn't been easy growing up. My mum and I shared responsibility in terms of looking after my younger siblings and both my grandparents. My grandma was going to dialysis 3 times a week and my grandad was re-building his life after having a stroke which left him paralysed on one half of his body. I had to quickly pick up the role of a carer from a young age.

Eager to turn our lives around, I graduated from University with a degree in BSc International Business in 2014. Shortly after obtaining my graduate role in the corporate world, I started to experience daily migraines and lower back pains. This, coupled with the death of my grandmother led me to fall into a state of burnout and depression. For 3 years I sought numerous methods of support all to no avail. Then in 2017, my uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and passed away 2 months later. I knew I had to change my approach.

I decided to seek help from my secondary school best friend, David. He introduced me to a new approach called structural correction. I found that getting adjusted transformed my life both physically and mentally. I believed in the treatment so much that I started recommending structural correction and seat wedges to all my family, friends and colleagues in the office. 

Three years later, I am pain free and ready to take on a new challenge. My journey to lifestyle empowerment hasn't been linear – it has had its ups and downs but I have found that the most important thing was surrounding myself with people who supported me – a blessing that I am eternally grateful for having. I want to share this with others that may be experiencing similar physical and mental obstacles that I went through.

For as long as I've known, my family and I have been battling an on-going string of lifestyle-related illnesses. With several of us working in health, wellbeing and fitness industries, there isn't a better time for us to join forces. This venture will improve the quality of life for so many people that live in constant pain and discomfort unnecessarily. Together, we want to help others, creating a safe environment which encompasses inclusivity, diversity and family values.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Crowdfunder project. We hope you can join us on our journey to rebuilding healthcare in the UK!

References

¹https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/ltc/our-work-on-long-term-conditions/musculoskeletal/

²https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/musculoskeletal-conditions

³https://youtu.be/qfw8KTTcfR4

⁴https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/why-sitting-too-much-is-bad-for-us/

This project successfully funded on 6th April 2020