The Dragon Acupuncture Project is the UK's first, low-cost, multi-bed acupuncture clinic, and was founded in 2003 by Nik Tilling and Calum Thomson.
Most 'alternative' or 'complementary' therapies remain financially inaccessible to the majority of people. This is usually because these therapies are conducted on a one-to-one basis, taking up to an hour of the practitioner's time. High overhead costs have to be passed to the patient in high treatment charges.
The ethos of the Dragon Project is that acupuncture treatment should be available to all, irrespective of socio-economic class. Acupuncture's power to create positive change rests on its ability to reach the people who need it as often as is necessary. The style of practice we use at the Project allows a much greater section of the Brighton and Hove community to benefit from acupuncture.
This is achieved by two or three practitioners treating several patients together in a single, large room; this is conventional practice in modern-day China. Acupuncture is particularly suited to this style of practice: as the needles are usually left in for twenty to thirty minutes, an acupuncturist can move from patient to patient while the needles to do their work.
This allows us to reduce our overheads and pass this saving on to our patients.
Research carried out at the Dragon in 2006 showed that patients reported many more positive experiences than negative about being treated in such a space. Patients did not only attend because of the low-cost treatments, although this was important, but also to share in the sense of community that is created when several people are treated together.
All practitioners at the Dragon Acupuncture Project are registered members of the British Acupuncture Council and are bound by its code of ethics and safe practice.
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Nik Tilling: I qualified as an acupuncturist in 1999 and then completed a post-graduate clinical training in China which involved working full-time in a state hospital. This gave me my first experience of practicing acupuncture in a multi-bed setting. This was followed by a period working at the Gateway Clinic, an NHS-funded multi-bed acupuncture practice at Lambeth Hospital which specializes in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. I have further NHS experience working at the Pain Clinic in Cheltenham Hospital. I co-founded the Dragon Project in 2003 with Calum. I am particularly interested in the treatment of musculo-skeletal conditions with acupuncture. I recently qualified in Chinese Herbal Patent Medicine.
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Charlotte Stone, aka Charlie: My interest in Chinese energy arts started with the practice of chi gung and tai chi. I was drawn to acupuncture treatment initially as an extension of that energy work, having little idea of what it could achieve. I was astonished at the rapid improvements to my health that I received from regular treatment, and before long started training at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading, graduating in 2006. I trained in auricular (ear) acupuncture in 2003, and since that time have practiced this simple and effective treatment at a Brighton-based charity which offers low-cost treatments to all irrespective of income (visit www.pathwaystohealth.org.uk). I received my chi-gung teacher's certificate in 2003 and teach weekly classes in Brighton. I have practiced acupuncture at the Dragon Project since August 2006.
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Calum Thomson: Calum Thomson recieved his licentiate in Acupuncture from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in 2001 and founded the Dragon Acupuncture Project with Nick Tilling in 2003. He has been studying chi kung, tai chi and taoist meditative practise for the last seven years under lineage master B K Frantzis and his senior students Brian Cooper and Paul Cavel.
