About Us
The Charcot Therapy Centre has evolved over the years and expanded to support more people within the Gloucestershire area.
Founded in 1985 when we opened at our original site in Goodridge Avenue as the Gloucestershire Friends of ARMS Ltd. We were originally a centre providing Physiotherapy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to people in the area with Multiple Sclerosis.
In 1994 our charity name was changed to the MS Information and Therapy Centre, as we branched out to be a hub for people in the area needing information and support living with MS. We also expanded our therapies to include Acupuncture. We became known locally as the Gloucestershire MS Information and Therapy Centre.
In 2014 we saw an increase in people wanting to access Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for other conditions, for example Cancer and ME. To enable us to help more people we retained the name of Gloucestershire MS Information and Therapy Centre and introduced the GlosO2Therapy name to encourage members joining with conditions other than Multiple Sclerosis.
By 2017 we had outgrown our premises and were looking for a new location which would allow us to help more people and allow for further growth. We began to move into our current location in Frampton Road in November 2017 and opened officially in March 2018 by Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen. The new centre provided additional therapy rooms, and private meeting places, which meant we could do so much more for our members. We now have a wide variety of alternative therapies available working collaboratively with the Gloucester NHS Neurology Department.
As our centre has expanded it became apparent that there is still a gap in the community for people living with long term chronic health issues or neurological conditions, as well as those dealing with short term injuries or health issues. So in 2021, we decided to rebrand ourselves as just one place for all our members – the Charcot Therapy Centre.
Why Charcot I hear you ask? Well, Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist who was the first person to name Multiple Sclerosis as a condition. So, it’s our way to remember our original roots, whilst opening our doors to others.