Our Team

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Sarah Joice, MCSP

Sarah graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1998 with a First Class Honours degree in Physiotherapy. After qualifying, she worked within the NHS at Leeds General Infirmary, specialising in musculoskeletal disorders with a particular interest in dance injuries.

Sarah has developed a renowned, specialist physiotherapy service for dancers within the Yorkshire region. More than 40 years of practical dance experience (to RAD Solo Seal standard) has enabled her to combine her love of dance with her physiotherapy career. She specialises in all manner of dance-related conditions, working with all ages and levels from recreational dancers to dance scholars and company dancers. She has provided a screening service for musculoskeletal disorders at dance auditions previously involving the Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre in York, and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) in Leeds, where she currently heads up the Physiotherapy service for all the undergraduate and MA students. Sarah also provides physiotherapy clinics on an annual basis for the National Youth Dance Company when they are in residence in the Yorkshire region.

Previous clients have included Phoenix Dance Theatre (Leeds), and full-time dance students from regional schools, such as Hammond (Chester), The Northern School of Contemporary Dance and SLP College (Leeds), Elmhurst (Birmingham), Tring Park (Hertfordshire), Northern Ballet School (Manchester), CAPA College (Wakefield) and LIPA (Liverpool), among others. Sarah also works with young dancers on the Associate (CAT) and Graduate programmes at Northern Ballet Theatre (Leeds) and regularly treats professional performers when touring to The Grand Theatre, including cast members from Ghost, Phantom of the Opera, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dance til Dawn, Barnum, Last Tango, Wedding Singer, Evita, Mamma Mia, Dreamboats and Petticoats, Cabaret, Tango Moderno, Calendar Girls, South Pacific, and The Bodyguard. Sarah is also listed on the One Dance UK Healthcare Directory.

Sarah became Clinical Director at PEAK Physiotherapy Limited, Yorkshire Neuro Physiotherapy, and Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy in 2005, and she combines her clinical caseload with business management and development. In her spare time, Sarah still enjoys all forms of dancing, and is an active member of local theatre company Brassneck Theatre, choreographing several of their shows. She also enjoys walking, travelling to far off lands and trips to the theatre.

"As a dancer myself, I understand just how frustrating an injury can be, and how important it is to make a speedy recovery but a safe return to class and performing. My experience allows me to speak the ‘language’ a dancer understands, which I find effectively breaks down the barriers that appear to exist all too often within the medical profession. I am passionate about my work, particularly with young dancers, and I am delighted to be able to help with both the physical and emotional side of injury management, supporting both the dancer and their family throughout the recovery process."

Sarah Joice

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Rebecca Blanche, MCSP

Rebecca graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2018, with a First Class Honours degree in Physiotherapy. Once qualified, she worked initially at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in a rotational post. She then moved to the Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, specialising into the field of Paediatrics, in January 2020. This new role realised a long-term aspiration of Rebecca’s, as her passion for working with children, particularly those presenting with neurological difficulties, had been developing since she undertook a placement in that field, whilst at university.

Rebecca manages a complex caseload of children presenting with all manner of neurological conditions and has experience working with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, developmental delay, and genetic disorders, amongst others. She works as part of the NHS multidisciplinary team in both clinic and domiciliary settings, including SILCs and mainstream schools. Her approach is holistic and client-centred, and she strives to ensure family engagement, working closely with parents/carers throughout the rehabilitation process.

From a young age, Rebecca has also worked as a gymnastics coach, and this experience has helped her become extremely effective at communicating with a large variety of children and young people, helping them to maintain motivation and to reach their goals. These skills also enable her to build exceptional levels of trust with both her clients and their families.

Rebecca’s post-graduate studies include training on sensory integration therapy, which means she is able to offer her services to our young clients presenting with SPD and sensory issues.

Rebecca joined the team at Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy in April 2021. She is based predominantly in clinic but can also offer community and domiciliary appointments.

When not working, Rebecca enjoys going on long walks in the country, exploring new places and painting, which is a new hobby that began during the first COVID lockdown in 2020.

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Lauren Bolger, MCSP

Lauren graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2018, completing her MSc in Physiotherapy (Pre-Registration). Prior to this, she had completed a BSc in Sports & Exercise Science at Oxford Brookes University in 2014 and had then worked as a Physiotherapy Assistant Practitioner at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, assisting with chronic pain and orthopaedic services, including running hydrotherapy and group exercise sessions.

Throughout her MSc studentship, Lauren continued to work as a Physiotherapy Assistant at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital, assisting in Orthopaedics, Paediatric Limb Reconstruction, and the Burns and Plastics services, which developed her interest in this particular field of physiotherapy.

Unsurprisingly, when Lauren was given the opportunity to specialise in Paediatrics within a year of qualifying, she leapt at the chance, and she joined the specialist Paediatric NHS team at the Leeds Children’s Hospital in 2019. Since then, Lauren has not looked back, and her passion for working with children and creating fun and engaging ways for them to optimise their function in a patient-centred manner is as strong as ever.
 
Lauren has gained a wide variety of post-graduate experience, and she works with children of all ages presenting with respiratory, cardiovascular, orthopaedic, neurological, complex neuro-developmental, and musculoskeletal conditions. She joined the team at Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy in October 2021, where she offers a mixture of clinic-based and domiciliary appointments.

In her spare time, Lauren plays rugby! She currently plays for Harrogate RUFC, where she is Vice Captain. Lauren also represents Yorkshire in tag rugby and has previously represented Yorkshire in Rugby Union. Her favourite memories were getting to play at Twickenham in the county finals and winning back-to-back championships!

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Lauren Holyoake, MCSP

Lauren qualified as a Physiotherapist in 2018, with a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from the University of Huddersfield. She was always driven towards a career in Paediatrics and went directly into this field, following graduation from university. She worked with the Leeds Community NHS Team for 18 months, before joining the Mid Yorkshire Trust as a Specialist Children’s Physiotherapist.
 
She works with children aged 0-19 years, and she has a sound knowledge of a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, spina bifida, Down’s syndrome, developmental delay, and other genetic/chromosomal abnormalities. Lauren is keen to work with children and their families, to understand their goals and aspirations, so that her physiotherapy sessions and programmes can be tailored to meet these needs. She takes time to get to know the families, to ensure that treatment goals are realistic and measurable, but most importantly focused on the child’s personal interests, so that therapy is fun and exciting for them.

Lauren has experience working in a variety of different clinical settings, including mainstream schools, specialist schools, out-patient clinics at the hospital, and domiciliary. More recently, she has taken a role on the Neonatal Unit, and she works within specialist pre-5’s clinics, alongside the Paediatricians. Lauren works within a large multi-disciplinary team (MDT) to ensure that a holistic and effective approach is provided towards patient care. She has a wealth of experience working with a variety of specialist and non-specialist equipment, including walking frames, standing frames, positioning equipment, and sleep systems.

She also has experience in leading hydrotherapy sessions alongside intensive land-based blocks of treatment. She has a passion for swimming, not only as she is herself a competitive swimmer, but also from many years spent involved in swim coaching, where she has worked with a variety of children, coaching, teaching, and officiating swimming.

Lauren joined the team at Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy in November 2022. She is based predominantly in clinic at present but can also offer community and domiciliary appointments.
When not working, Lauren enjoys going on long walks, going to the gym, swimming, and spending quality time with her family.

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Isabelle Ward, MCSP

Isabelle is an Australian Physiotherapist who graduated from Charles Sturt University in 2016, with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. She gained 7 years of post-graduate clinical experience working in musculoskeletal and paediatric private practices in Australia, before relocating to the UK.

Isabelle has completed many post-graduate courses in the management of paediatric musculoskeletal injuries and pain, and she has experience working with post-surgical and fracture management, sporting related injuries, and growth-related pains. She specialises in working with children or young adults with a diagnosis of hypermobility spectrum disorder and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS).

Isabelle has a specialist clinical interest in working with children under 12 months of age, and she has done additional training in the developmental assessment of infants and toddlers, management of plagiocephaly, torticollis, positional talipes, and delayed gross motor development. Her down-to-earth, fun-loving nature means she engages well with the children, and she works closely with their families.

Isabelle also treats adult clients, working as a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. She has extensive experience treating women with specific injuries and pain, having done further study into menopausal symptom management and exercise prescription, as well as injuries and pain common within this population, such as tendon pain, lower back and pelvic pain, and stress fractures. She believes in encouraging everyone to move well and feel well, despite the challenges of life. Isabelle is a fully qualified APPI Pilates Instructor, in both matwork and reformer equipment, and she is passionate about developing good, individualised programmes to ensure that the individual achieves the changes they desire.

Isabelle moved to the UK to expand her clinical experience as a Physiotherapist (as well as to explore the UK and Europe!). Outside of work, she loves to rock climb, ski, and camp; eat fine food and travel to new places to experience the culture; see the wilderness, and tick off her ever-growing travel wish list!

Isabelle joined the YCP team in January 2023, and works at our Bradford, Garforth and Otley clinic locations, as well as offering home/school visits across the Yorkshire region.

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Libby Thornton, MCSP

Libby graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2016, with a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy. In 2021, she started work at Manchester Children’s Hospital, where she developed her passion for working with children, thriving especially within rehabilitation settings. She gained experience in the assessment and treatment of children with orthopaedic injuries, respiratory compromise, acute neurological impairments, long-term neuromuscular conditions, developmental delay, and childhood cancers. Libby also worked effectively within the multidisciplinary team to help best manage her clients’ needs.

Alongside her work for Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy, Libby works as a Senior Physiotherapist within the NHS Leeds Community Healthcare Children's Team, where she independently manages a large caseload for those with neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, neuromuscular conditions, developmental delay, and genetic syndromes, to name a few. Libby strives to complete expert assessments, which inform her critical analysis of the potential problems. She works in conjunction with families to establish meaningful goals, and delivers specialist intervention to work towards these goals, including hydrotherapy.

Libby has special interests in the management of those with neuromuscular conditions and completing post-operative rehabilitation. She has completed post-graduate courses in neonatal physiotherapy, neuro-disability physiotherapy, and the management of children with cerebral palsy. Libby is a fun and warming person, which means she is well suited to working with children.

She is passionate about sport, and as a teenager, she competed in multiple sports at a high level; her main interest being athletics. She was also an athletics coach, where she worked with children and young people on the development of their track and field skills, in a fun and motivating style. In her spare time, Libby plays Korfball (a European indoor sport with similarities to netball and basketball). She also enjoys travelling and enjoys ticking off bucket-list destinations!

Libby joined the YCP team in February 2024, and offers both clinic and domiciliary work, depending on individual client’s needs and goals. 

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Angela Hennink, MCSP

Angela graduated from HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 2009 with a BSc degree in Physiotherapy. She continued her education at Avans+ University in Breda, The Netherlands, where she obtained her Master of Science in Paediatric Physical Therapy, in 2014.

Angela started her career as a full-time Physiotherapist at Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Center in Arnhem, The Netherlands, where she gained vast experience working with children aged 0-20 with various disorders including cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disorders and spina bifida, as well as developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and psychosomatic disorders.

After moving to Israel in 2015, Angela worked within hospital settings, amongst which included the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of both Tel Hashomer Hospital and Tel Aviv Medical Center, both in Tel Aviv. She started working in the out-patient clinic for the Paediatric Neurology department in Tel Aviv Medical Center in 2017, and specialised further in neuromuscular diseases, attending several specialist courses relating to Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). She further specialised in SMA and was the leading Physiotherapist for the specialist clinic for these patients, developing new treatment methods after a new drug therapy became available for this disease.

Angela moved to the UK in August 2023, and she joined the team at Yorkshire Children’s Physiotherapy in September 2024. She currently works on-site at our Otley clinic, as well as doing local domiciliary appointments.

In her spare time, Angela loves to discover more of the UK, together with her husband and three young children, and go for hikes, camp, and spend quality time with friends and family. 

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Natalie Seals, MCSP

Natalie is a passionate and dedicated clinician who graduated in 2011 with a First Class Honours degree in Physiotherapy from the University of York St John. She has more than 10 years of experience working in the field of Neurology with people across the whole life span. She has worked across multiple sectors (NHS, private, and charity), and across the whole pathway, acute neuro in-patients, neuro out-patients, neuro rehab settings, and neuro community.

Natalie is an active committee member of the Yorkshire Association of Chartered Physiotherapists Interested in Neurology (ACPIN) and the Yorkshire Acquired Brain Injury Forum (YABIF). Alongside her role at Yorkshire Neuro Physiotherapy, she also holds leadership roles within the NHS.

Additionally, Natalie is a qualified Sensory Integration Practitioner, following completion of a Post-Graduate Certificate (PGCert) in Sensory Integration, in 2017. Within this specialist role working as part of our Paediatric team, she assesses children of all ages, to determine and report on the impact that sensory processing has on their behaviour and praxis; their ability to think of, plan, carry out, and reflect upon movement.

Natalie has completed an array of post-graduate courses including AAPI Pilates Matwork Levels 1 and 2, Rebound Therapy (Trainer Level 2), kinesiotaping, vestibular rehabilitation, 1000 reps, and Bobath (parts A and B). She has also attended the DMO Orthotics Accredited Practitioner course and York Wheelchair Centre’s Accredited Assessor Course. Natalie ensures that she continues to keep up to date with the latest clinical guidelines and research for the conditions that she treats.

Natalie understands the social, physical, emotional, and cognitive impact that neurological illness/injury can have on a person. She adopts an empathetic and inquisitive approach, empowering her clients through advice, education, signposting, and referrals, alongside hands-on neurorehabilitation. Natalie will support you to work towards your dream goals, breaking them down into smaller achievable stages along the way.

Natalie joined the PEAK team in April 2022, and works within our specialist adult Neuro and Paediatric teams. She is predominantly domiciliary based, offering home/school appointments across the Yorkshire region.

Outside of work, Natalie loves dancing. She mainly does Latin, ballroom, salsa and commercial, but has also tried her hand at breakdancing. She enjoys trying new things and finding fun ways to keep fit, so has also tried sky diving, paragliding, hiking, ice-skating, and hula-hooping!

Rachael Harris

Rachael graduated from Leeds Beckett University in 2019, with a BSc (Hons.) in Sport and Exercise Therapy (2:1). She then continued her studies and completed her MSc in Sport and Exercise Medicine in 2020.  Both degree courses placed a heavy emphasis on musculoskeletal rehabilitation, and topics covered during her 4 years of university study included anatomy and physiology, exercise for referred populations, injury epidemiology, injury rehabilitation, and biomechanics. Rachael also gained over 200 hours of experience working with Bradford Bulls Rugby League first team, Leeds United girls RTC, and Yorkshire Carnegie Rugby.

After graduating, Rachael gained 3 years of experience working within a private sports therapy clinic, assessing, diagnosing, and treating clients presenting with musculoskeletal pain. Treatments were tailored specifically to the clients’ needs and included various manual therapy techniques and/or exercise rehabilitation. She also works as the Sports Therapist for the Bradford Bulls Scholarship programme, where she ensures that the team is kept in an injury-free state so that they can compete at an optimal level. Rachael is set to return to University in January 2024 to complete a 2-year MSc in Physiotherapy which will further her knowledge and understanding to be able to treat a wider range of clients.

During her free time, Rachael enjoys going to the gym and playing tennis. She has been a keen competitor since the age of 5 and she has represented her home county of Cumbria and Leeds Beckett University. She also enjoys gardening and cooking.

Rachael joined the PEAK team in April 2023, and she works alongside our specialist Neuro and Paediatric teams as a Physiotherapy Assistant. She also works as a Sports Massage Therapist as part of the MSK team and offers regular clinics at our Otley and Garforth clinics.

Laura Fenton

Laura joined the PEAK team in August 2024, working as one of our Physiotherapy Assistants, supporting our MSK, Neuro and Paediatric clients across the Yorkshire area. Her future plan includes applying for the Physiotherapy degree course at Leeds Beckett University, to further her own studies whilst continuing to work with our Therapy teams.

Previously, Laura studied Social Work at The University of Leeds. During her time on placement, she developed vital transferable skills that relate well to the Physiotherapy Assistant role. She then decided to change direction and transfer to a Physiotherapy degree, to enable her to combine her lifelong passion for sport and fitness with her strong drive to support others.

Having a profound interest in sports injury, biomechanics, and the use of rehabilitation for recovery in both athletes and those recovering from injury or illness, Laura is developing quickly into her new career path and enjoys working with her clients who present with all manner of pathologies.

Outside of work, Laura remains very active. She is an avid gym-goer, cheerleader, and gymnast; having participated in a huge range of competitive sports from a young age.

Ruth Booker

Ruth joined the PEAK team in September 2024 and works as a Physiotherapy Assistant supporting our MSK, Neuro, and Paediatric teams across the West Yorkshire area.

She has enjoyed a diverse career over the years, spanning design and project management as a Landscape Architect, and working within both mainstream and specialised education provision; including teaching small groups at primary school and in a Learning Support Unit. Most recently, she has been a Functional Skills maths and English mentor/teacher, and Additional Needs Lead for adults completing apprenticeships. Her considerable expertise and experience in differentiating support and mentoring people of all ages, means that she has significant transferable skills and relates well to the Physiotherapy Assistant role.

During her free time, Ruth enjoys travelling, gardening, reading, and cooking. She endeavours to keep fit and mobile through walking and Pilates.

Lauren Walkington

Lauren joined the PEAK team in August 2021, and has been a welcome addition to our administrative team. With a background in Business and Marketing Management, she has become invaluable behind the scenes, and is based in our central admin office in Knaresborough.

Lauren will often be the first point of contact for the team, making and receiving phone calls, arranging appointments, and generally busying herself with all the important administrative jobs that keep the PEAK cogs whirring.

Outside of work, Lauren enjoys walking and keeping fit and exploring the UK in her campervan!