Rhys and Dilys

Rhys is a married father of two teenagers. He divides his working life between a small charity seeking to improve the way society supports, views and includes people with learning disabilities and teaching swimming.

While the two roles may appear very different, Rhys sees a common thread between them.

"Both involve finding ways to encourage people to take part and achieve in a way that suits them and their own goals, desires and abilities."

Those values have deep roots.

"There's so much to say about my Mum. Dilys was a force of nature who was devoted to empowering people to achieve all they wanted."

Dilys Price was an educator, innovator and the creator of the programme and methodology that became the foundation of Touch Trust and continues through Two Rhythms today. Her commitment to enabling people with profound and multiple learning disabilities to participate, communicate, make choices and experience creativity was part of a much wider philosophy about how she lived her life.

Rhys remembers her as someone with extraordinary energy and optimism.

"She was the sort of person who, even though she didn't really drink alcohol, would never leave home without making sure she had a few bottles of champagne in the boot of her car, just in case a party broke out unexpectedly!"

Their relationship, Rhys says, was loving, real and sometimes complex, not least because Dilys was someone driven to challenge accepted beliefs and create change.

"Although I miss her, and miss being able to tell her my news, I feel her influence and spark in many places. None more so than in the continued success of Two Rhythms and the opportunities for further development that the Bursary Scheme will bring. That would have her dancing for joy."

From an idea to Two Rhythms

Rhys was there at an important moment in the development of what would eventually become Two Rhythms.

"I remember the day in the early 1990s when Mum asked me to bring my PC over to her house to help her write what became the Touch Trust programme."

He became, as he describes it, the first of Dilys's many scribes and helpers.

"With my tongue poking out of the side of my mouth in concentration, I became her first scribe! As my typing speed was best measured in words per day and my spelling was idiosyncratic at best, I like to think the long pauses she had to make while I corrected and rewrote things gave her time to refine and hone her thoughts."

It was, he recalls, "a beautiful, complicated, frustrating and, at times, very funny period". It was also something mother and son would look back on with great affection.

More than three decades later, the work that began during those conversations continues through Two Rhythms.

Why access matters

At the heart of Rhys's support for the Bursary Scheme is a simple principle: people with profound and multiple learning disabilities should be able to access meaningful creative, sensory and therapeutic experiences regardless of their financial circumstances.

Rhys describes these experiences as something "we all need", particularly when they take place in a safe, non-judgemental environment where people's individual choices are recognised and valued.

The Two Rhythms approach starts with the individual. It is designed so that participation is meaningful whatever a person's abilities, communication style or support needs. There is no expectation that everyone should participate or respond in the same way.

For Rhys and his family, donating Dilys's royalties was therefore a natural way to continue something that mattered deeply to her.

"The important thing is to make sure that people with profound and multiple learning disabilities can access multidisciplinary programmes regardless of their personal circumstances. Our family feels that if donating the royalties can help give impetus to the Bursary Scheme and increase participation, then that is what we want to do."

Creating a lasting legacy of access

The initial donation of Dilys's royalties will provide the foundation for the Two Rhythms Bursary Scheme, but our ambition is for the scheme to grow.

We want to build a sustainable fund, supported by individuals, families, trusts, businesses and other partners who share our belief that financial circumstances should not determine whether someone can participate.

For Rhys, the ultimate ambition is bigger still: to increase participation and access to the approach not only in Wales, but eventually across the world.

"The programme is designed to be positive for everyone, regardless of skills or ability. People who have access to the fewest opportunities may need those opportunities the most."

The Bursary Scheme will help us begin to turn that principle into practical support, creating opportunities for more people to experience Two Rhythms while carrying forward the values that inspired Dilys's work from the beginning.

A legacy not simply of a methodology, but of participation, possibility and access.