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Branding Shoot with Sophie of ‘Manchester Children’s Physiotherapy’ and her team
As one of my oldest friends, it was extra special to be able to photograph Sophie of Manchester Children’s Physiotherapy and her lovely colleagues Jenny and Helen recently for a branding shoot.
Sophie and I met on our very first day of school, age four, with wonky home cut fringes and nervous little faces when my mum shoved us together saying ‘ooh this girl looks nice!’ before making a sharp exit, leaving us wondering what just happened!
Little did we know that was the beginning of a life long friendship; all through school, university and now as adults with two of our own children coincidentally shoved together on their first day of primary school in the same class too!
Sophie is the founder of Sale based Manchester Children’s Physiotherapy and, along with her two colleagues, helps and treats children with a wide variety of conditions all around the Greater Manchester and Cheshire areas.
They offer a really personal, friendly service..either in their lovely little clinic room based in Sale Leisure centre or out and about in patients homes or educational settings and obviously all care so much about the kids they work with.
Sophie needed some updated images for her website and social media so asked me to help out with a full branding shoot.
Firstly I came and hung out while the MCP team had a meeting, taking some lovely documentary style images of them all planning and chatting round a table, then there was a chance to grab some updated head shots of each of them outside (which was much more painless than they expected I’m told!)
Then I was lucky enough to tag along for one of Sophie’s sessions with a little girl she regularly sees to capture some images of Sophie at work (although she made it so fun I barely noticed the sneaky physio that was taking place amongst all the game playing, book reading and song singing!)
It was really important that as such a personal business with incredibly warm connections with the children they help, MCP could have some photography reflecting this to show to families on their website and social media. I really think the sense of fun and warmth between Sophie and her little superstar patient shines through in the images captured at the session.
I absolutely loved photographing this session and getting to see just how good my old buddy is at her job and how much she means to the children she helps.
Finally, there was time to grab a few interior shots in the MCP clinic room in Sale Leisure centre and a few useful detail pictures to build a bank of images for future social media posts.
Sophie was kind enough to answer a few of my questions so you can read a little more about her and ‘Manchester Children’s Physiotherapy’ below.
Your name
Sophie Johnson
Your Business Name
Manchester Children’s Physiotherapy
What do you do?
We assess children from 0-16 years with a wide variety of conditions and then advise on how this should be best managed. Treatments are bespoke, taking into account the child’s age and their needs. We aim to support the whole family unit whilst providing fun, interactive treatments. We work closely with our NHS colleagues and education staff, visiting children at their home, in nurseries and schools as well as in our clinic at Sale Leisure Centre.
How are you different?!
I think the beauty of MCP is that we offer a tailor made, personal service. From the moment you contact us, whether by email or phone, you will speak to one of our hands on clinicians. We offer a flexible, family friendly service which is based around the needs of each child.
What three words would you use to describe your business?
Fun, interactive physiotherapy!
How do your days look?
The beauty of our job, is that there isn’t a typical day really! Some days we are in clinic, others we are out and about in the community. As paediatric physiotherapists we see a wide variety of conditions from new babies that have a foot problem, older babies with developmental delay, torticollis or plagiocephaly, toddlers who tip toe walk, children with Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Hypermobility, as well as those recovering from an injury. The list is pretty much endless! The majority of our patients come to us long term, so we treat lots of children that we have known for many years, but we also enjoy meeting new families in the week and establishing shared goals, treatment programs and working closely with their NHS professionals and educational staff.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I love that most of my days at work are spent working face to face with children, helping them get stronger, learn new skills, or return to that hobby they haven’t been able to do since they were injured. I love meeting and supporting new families as well as treating our children with long term needs and watching them make progress, not just in physiotherapy, but seeing them move into secondary school and grow into happy, confident young adults (the perfect role models for our younger children).
How did you come up with the name for your company?
It was a no brainier really!!
How many employees do you have?
Two, Jenny and Helen; both paediatric physios like me!
What made you choose your company’s location?
I left the NHS after 12 years in order to spend more time with my family as well as providing affordable paediatric physiotherapy to as many families as possible across the Manchester area. Living and working in Sale helps me to achieve this. I can do the school run and be at work in 5 minutes! Sale is a great location for MCP, as are minutes from M60 motorway and our clinic based in Sale Leisure Centre is a stone’s throw from Sale Tram stop. Being based here, also gives us the flexibility to take children in the gym to use exercise bikes and treadmills.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? (Business or otherwise!)
Find What Feels Good! I am a big fan of Yoga with Adrienne and this is one of her mantras! 🧘♀️
What are you most grateful for?
My health. Being fit and well should never be taken for granted.
Where do you find inspiration?
From the children and families I work with who have faced multiple challenges, but continue to be positive, determined and succeed.
What do you do for fun?
I like to start every day with 20-30 mins of exercise…yoga/running/throwing a few weights around in the play room. I love meeting up with friends for coffee, going out for dinner, better still get a take away with the girls! I enjoy cooking and baking all sorts of Mary Berry treats with my 2 daughters, Libby (13) and Imogen (10) and then like to end the day, curled up reading a good book!
Hopes for the future?
I would love to volunteer working abroad when my girls are a bit bigger.
What’s the one tune that will always get you on the dance floor?
Doves – Pounding!! Happy Days!!
Thanks so much Sophie!
If you would like to hear more about MCP and how they may be able to help your child if you have concerns you can get in touch via their website:manchesterchildrensphysiotherapy.co.uk
You can also keep up with what Sophie and her team have been up to, plus some really useful tips on their Facebook page: facebook.com/ManchesterChildrensPhysiotherapy
If you think I could help let the character of you and your business shine through with a branding shoot, I’d love to hear from you, just pop to my branding page on my main website for more info: sonyasmithphoto.com/branding-photography/ You can check out more of my work and hear what I’ve been up to on Instagram at instagram.com/sonyasmithphoto or Facebook on Facebook.com/sonyasmithphoto