In 2010 there was a mad scramble to change the existing level 3 Diploma to one with Units, Levels and Credits. Inspira Academy tutors and students weren't keen on the new version and so the quest to develop a higher level training programme began as the 'new' level 3 Diploma was for School and FE, but Inspira Academy also had students looking for something higher up the educational chain.
Reflexology Awarding Organisations in England had a very small window to meet the Bologna Agreement standards, but in Wales they had adopted Units, Levels and Credits back in 2002, so Agored Cymru (the Awarding Organisation for Wales) were approached and they agreed to develop new units. After many months of Sue Alma Evans collaborating with the Health Units Officer, the units were ready and went before a Health Board and were declared to be an overall Level 5 (3 reflexology units at level 5 and Anatomy and Business at level 4). The units were placed on the QALL Pillar and assigned in the Health Skills Sector as: Nursing and Subjects and Vocations Allied to Medicine ... a first and a huge stride forward for reflexology training!
Initially Sue had started her quest only for the students at Inspira Academy, but as other training providers heard about it, they wanted to join and Martyn Finke at PR arranged a meeting for Sue and Paul to talk to everyone. They went back to Agored Cymru who said the others could join as long as Sue and Paul would by the lynch pin aka the Recognised Centre ... and this is how Centralia was born. Reflexology Associations and memberships had been overseeing training, but by now had relinquished all responsibility, had no 'schools' and no authority in education and training as that had all transferred to Awarding Organisations. As the Recognised Centre, Centralia took on huge responsibility for the syllabus, the core curriculum, the assignments, quality assurance and standardisation! This was a steep learning curve, but with the support and input from all the new Partner Centres an amazing 'Suite of Units' at Level 5 was rolled out across venues in the UK.
Lots happened in the development of Level 5 and any mistakes made all informed for the future and so Centralia and its Partner Centres grew and so did the development of a Centralia treatment technique called NEPIP. A new title was given of Agored Cymru Level 5 Diploma in Practitioner Reflexology.
The shift over to Ofqual meant a complete re-write of all of the units, but by now Sue was adept as she had also written the reflexology modules for a HND in Complementary Therapies and a Complementary Therapies Degree, as well as partial re-writes between 2010 and 2016 to ensure improvements and staying ahead with current movements in legislation, education and reflexology techniques as well as the profession itself.
Partner Centres were growing and adding venues. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Agored Cymru, who had been very supportive over the last 12 years, as they were unable to facilitate Partner Centres outside the UK and the Belfast venue had an eye on opening up in Dublin.
It was a very equitable departure and Centralia remained the Recognised Centre until late summer 2024 to make sure all learners under their care had been awarded. Partner Centres were given the option to stay and re-write the syllabus, course content and assignments or come and embark on a new vision for reflexology training with OTHM.
The CAREA Matrix is Born
Duopody
NEPIP
CALM
had been long established at some, but not all Academies, but now the drive for a whole person approach to health saw all Academies relishing the opportunity to excel with evidence based models for
Mental > Physical > Emotional
Mind > Body > Spirit
learning and teaching programmes
Recognition as L5+6 Licensed Practitioner
Excellence Rewarded
Partner with other Health Practitioners
Whole Person Approach
2 Awarding Organisations
a rebirth as CAREA in 2022
Always at the forefront and leading the way ...
