We are delighted to learn that Dr Tom Balchin, a long-standing client of Forresters, has been made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 New Year’s Honours List.
Tom suffered a major brain haemorrhage in 1997 that paralysed the left side of his body. Tom used an innovative combination of martial arts, resistance training and other approaches in his rehabilitation, and found that the results were hugely successful – Tom has become an accomplished weightlifter, and a high-ranking black belt in both Taekwondo and Teukgong Moosool.
Tom realised that the skills and techniques he had learned could help others, and in 2001 he founded the ARNI (Action for Rehabilitation from Neurological Injury) Charity and Institute to help people to recover from strokes and other injuries in evidence-based and innovative ways, relying on the principles of neuroplasticity being driven by hard work. Thanks to Tom’s energy and commitment, the ARNI institute has been very successful, and there is now a significant network of ARNI instructors across the UK.
Tom has published two best-selling books, “Had a Stroke? Now what?” and “The Successful Stroke Survivor”.
Tom is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Bolton, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and also at the University of East Anglia. He has also been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. He is also a Chartered Scientist.
Between 2012 and 2016, Forresters helped Tom obtain a patent to cover the design of a new weightlifting bar, which is now being manufactured and sold under licence, with profits from the sales being returned to the ARNI institute.
Tom is thoroughly deserving of his OBE for services to functional rehabilitation after a stroke. Alex Beattie, who has worked with Tom since he first made contact with Forresters, congratulated Tom on the award. Alex said: “I have enjoyed working with Tom to secure his patent, and to help him commercialise the product. Tom is a very impressive and genuinely inspiring individual, having worked hard to overcome adversity and then used his knowledge to improve the lives of others. We wish Tom and his family all the best for the award ceremony, and we know that he will continue to go from strength to strength.”
More information on Tom, the ARNI charity and his award, can be seen here.
We remain in awe of Tom and his achievements, and are very proud to count him as one of our clients.
Tom said: “Forresters is a superlative organisation; I’m so lucky to have found them. Mr Alex Beattie in particular has supported me over a period of 15 years in the most professional and kindly of ways and over this time he has become a friend. After he successfully created and submitted my patent, my involvement with him has never ended, mainly because I’ve continued returning to him for his valuable guidance. I’ve been continually thankful and impressed by the way that each communication with him results in immediate and balanced guidance, particularly lately concerning particular strategies around the licensing of my patent. He has taken direct action with a number of companies on my behalf upon my request and worked strategically for me to gain optimal results. It is a lucky client indeed who finds and utilises the services of Forresters.”
