SPRING 2013

Late last year we began looking at how we might improve our services for young people aged between 18 and 30 who have a brain injury.

We began by inviting young people from Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North East and North Somerset areas, to share their views and ideas with us at a discussion group meeting at Headway Centre on Tuesday, 27 November. We were delighted by the enthusiasm of those who came along to the meeting, and were impressed by the innovative ideas they contributed.

A triumph of the meeting was the formation of a Young People’s Peer Support Group. The group plans to meet socially once a month, on the last Tuesday of the month. The first of these gatherings takes place at Headway Centre on Tuesday, 30 April. At the meeting the group will draw up a list of future venues and activities, and these will then be published.

Anyone aged between 18 and 30 who has an acquired brain injury, and who lives in the Headway Bristol catchment area is welcome to join the group. You don’t have to be a user of Headway services to join and there is no membership fee. The group is intended, though, for head injured individuals to socialise, so is not open to friends and family.

To find out more about the calendar of social group dates and venues, call Nikki Kosinski on 0117 340 3771.

TEDMED comes to the UK In April of this year, Bristol Health Partners, in conjunction with TED, the international non-profit conference organisation, ran the first TEDMEDLive conference in the UK at MShed in Bristol.

The TEDMED concept comes out of the TED Talks (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design) that started back in 1990 in California. The topics covered by the internationally renowned talks have widened over two decades and now include areas such as emerging medical technologies and healthcare.

TEDMEDLive, which was linked live to the TEDMED 2013 conference in Washington DC, brought together professionals and interested bodies for comprehensive discussion of the challenges that health systems face, both in the UK and internationally. Headway Bristol was delighted to have been invited to participate in the talks.

The Bristol event targeted some of the 20 'Great Challenges' identified by TEDMED with the aim of stimulating collaboration on new ideas, and so bring about advances in health care.

Headway Bristol has been able to expand it’s support services using monies donated by the Clip Up for Conor campaign.

Posters produced with funds raised by the campaign have been put up in family rooms on all of the neurological and high dependency wards at Frenchay.

In the early stages of recovery family members can be reluctant to raise questions with specialist medical staff, but they are grateful for the opportunity to ask them of our support staff during weekly ward visits.

Marion Gray, Support Outreach Worker, told me “You can sense the relief when people realise who we are, and when they understand the purpose of our visit is to support them.”

Often people aren’t ready to talk on the first visit but they are grateful to have our contact card in the knowledge that weeks, months or years later we will still be there to give support as and when they need it.

Headway Bristol thanks the family of Conor Hall and the Clip Up for Conor campaign. www.clipupforconor.org

Young People’s Social Group

Headway Bristol recently launched an Independent Living Fund, which will provide small grants to adults living with an acquired brain injury, to help them either preserve their independence or

increase their ability to live independently.

The fund is not a general hardship fund but is intended to enable a person with a brain injury to maintain or increase their independence. The applicant will need to demonstrate in their application how the grant will enable them to achieve this.

Grants will be awarded up to £500, and only one grant will normally be awarded

in a 12 month period. The grant can be for the full or partial cost of an item or service.

Applications are invited from those living in the Headway Bristol area i.e. Bristol, North and North East Somerset or South Gloucestershire.

To find out more or to request an application form call Headway Bristol on 0117 3403771.

Independent Living Fund launch We’ll be there...

SPRING 2013

A Spring message from the Chief Executive

Headway Bristol recently announced it is widening the acceptance criteria, to enable stroke survivors to participate in its social and cognitive rehabilitation services. It has done so in response to growing interest from adults who have a stroke related head injury.

Before making the decision, research was carried out into the types of services already available to those with stroke related injuries in the area. Results clearly demonstrated a lack of provision for this group of people of the type of services Headway Bristol offers.

The Charity has now responded to a number of enquiries on behalf of stroke survivors. Access to Headway’s services is through the normal assessment and referral route.

For more information, telephone 0117 3403771 or email info@headwaybristol.org.uk

The signs of Spring and some long awaited sunshine are now with us and this coincides with some exciting new developments here at Headway Bristol. We continue to deliver our cognitive and social rehabilitation services from our centres and through one-to-one outreach as well as developing and expanding our services – more details of these can be found in this Newsletter and more will follow in the next issue. We have launched our new Independent Living Fund and our new Young People’s Social Group. We are also extremely grateful for two legacies which are enabling us to develop a more comprehensive support service for Carers. This work will include building on our Hospital Ward visits, one-to-one support, counselling, group-work, drop-ins and more. Our aim is to gather evidence of the very real need for these services, so that we can get funding for them to continue in the future. As many of you are aware, there are lots of changes happening in the NHS and in Health & Social Care, meaning that we spend a lot of time attending consultation events, meetings, workshops, forums and conferences to ensure that brain injury and the needs of service users and carers remain high on people’s agendas. We also provide presentations and training to other organisations – which promotes understanding of brain injury and the range of services we provide. Staff wise, Jonathan Swithinbank left us after only a brief period in his role as Fundraiser – having been offered a role elsewhere that he “couldn’t refuse”. We wish him all the best in his new role and also congratulations on his upcoming marriage on 11th May. Kate Hicks – has replaced Johnny and has got straight to work on organising all the Action for Brain Injury Events, including the Barn Dance on 17th May. This year, we also have two “firsts” - a Golf Day (in August) and Abseil (in September). I am sure Kate will do an excellent job as our Fundraiser. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in the Frenchay 10k. Some ran and raised monies for us and some volunteered their time marshalling and staffing the stalls etc. Everyone’s efforts are much appreciated.

If anyone is interested in taking part in any of the events or would like to help or donate – please do contact us. Similarly if you would like to visit us or receive more information about any of our services, please get in touch. Kate Croucher

A short reminder to all service users to let us know if you are going on holiday, or if you will miss a day at the Day Centre for an appointment, with as much notice as possible so we can predict numbers for activities, outings and lunches. Tel: 0117 3403771/ 07527 820051 or email info@headwaybristol.org.uk

Please let us know if you are going to be away!

Headway Bristol to welcome stroke survivors

SPRING 2013

Staff and Volunteer News

We welcome a new colleague...

A big welcome to Kate Hicks, who joined us at Easter to replace Jonathan Swithinbank in the post of Fundraiser.

And many congratulations...

Claire Lambourne, Development Worker, had us all on tenterhooks over Easter as we awaited news of the arrival of her first baby.

At last, on Friday 5th April, we received word that Claire had given birth to a baby girl. Little Florence weighed in at 6lb 9oz. As you see, mum and baby are doing great and Florence is already practicing melting hearts!

Headway Bristol the brain injury association

Headway Centre Frenchay Hospital Frenchay Park Road Bristol BS16 1EH

Registered Charity No. 1007207

Telephone: 0117 340 3771 Email: info@headwaybristol.org.uk Web: www.headwaybristol.org.uk

Providing services to brain injured adults and carers in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North

Headway Bristol News Spring 2013

Published quarterly by:

MAY

Tuesday 7th CARERS GROUP & DROP-IN

Headway Centre

Monday 13th to Sunday 19th ACTION FOR BRAIN INJURY WEEK

Week of events to include:

* Bag Pack & Info Stand, Asda - 13th

* Table Top Sale - 14th

* Stall/Tombola (Redwood rest.) - 15th

* Balloon Launch - 16th

* Hats for Headway Day -17th

* Barn Dance, St Alban’s Church Hall

Westbury Park—17th

JUNE

Tuesday 4th CARERS GROUP & DROP-IN

Headway Centre. (Therapy & Relaxation)

Friday 7th to Sunday 9th BRADLEY STOKE FESTIVAL

Jubilee Centre / Jubilee Green

Friday 7th to Sunday 16th CHIPPING SODBURY FESTIVAL

Town Hall / town centre

Monday 17th HEADWAY BRISTOL AGM

Headway Centre

JULY

Tuesday 2nd CARERS GROUP & DROP-IN

Headway Centre. (Quiz)

Monday 8th to Friday 12th SERVICE USER HOLIDAY

Manor House Hotel, Ashbury, Devon

Saturday 27th SERVICE USER SOCIAL GROUP

Ludlow day trip

AUGUST

Tuesday 6th CARERS GROUP & DROP-IN

Headway Centre. (Barbeque)

Saturday 10th Golf Day

Thornbury Golf Club

Vassall Centre wins reprieve from closure - for at least five years We were delighted to hear the news that the acclaimed Vassall Centre in Fishponds has been saved from closure for the immediate future. Trustees had been forced to find a buyer for the three acre site because they could not afford the estimated £5million maintenance costs of the centre over the next ten years.

Now they have announced that a property management company is to buy the site and, under the terms of the sale, will continue to run it for at least the next five years. Proceeds from the sale of the buildings will be used by trustees to set up a new support and advice service for disabled people who want to get back into work.

It is fantastic that this new service will be based at the Vassall Centre.

SPRING 2013

SPRING 2013

Do you own a banger that’s gathering dust in the garage?

Then you can do your bit for charity!

Giveacar is a UK based fundraising organisation that specialises in auctioning or scrapping old

cars for charitable causes throughout the world, including Headway Bristol. They provide

a FREE service which is available throughout the UK.

They can arrange the collection of the vehicle and, depending on its age and condition, they can either send it for

environmentally safe disposal and recycling at an Authorised Treatment Facility, or to a salvage auction.

This means that a large portion of the proceeds are donated to a nominated charity of the vehicle owner’s choice!

Since 2010, when Giveacar was set up, the organisation has raised over £500,000 for over 450 charities.

To arrange collection of a car, visit Giveacar.co.uk or call 020 0011 1664, quoting HEADWAY BRISTOL as your preferred charity.

Donations in Memoriam

Donations were received from J Weatherstone, B E Watkins, Arthur Stephen Lewis and Marion Wall.

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you...Thank you...

Thank you to the following organisations for their grants and donations:

The Inner Wheel club, St Vincent Lodge, Florence Shute Charitable Trust, Hoover Foundation, Mazers Charitable Trust, Rizby Charitable Trust, Sir Jules Thor, The Clevedon Round Table, Lush (Cribbs Causeway), Manchester United F.C., Body Shop (Cribbs Causeway), Old Down Country Park, John Lewis/Waitrose, The Relaxation Centre, Court Farm Country Park, Wookey Hole Caves, Liverpool F.C., Sainsbury’s (Stoke Gifford), Tesco (Henleaze), House of Fraser, The Lido (Clifton).

A big ‘THANK YOU’ to the following individuals and groups for their personal donations and fundraising efforts for Headway Bristol:

Probus Club Staple Hill, T Chambers, The Sandford Womens Institute, The Bristol 9 Round Table, R Griffin, C M Tovey, B Lawrence, Dursley Male Voice Choir, D C French, St Annes Bowles Club, Bristol Masonic Widows, Ride for Recovery, Alex Lanfear for running the London Marathon and Yvonne Rawling’s Ridge Walk.

Thank you to everyone who took part in or helped support the Frenchay 10K run in April.

Our team of Headway runners did really well, all finishing the race in good time.

Our volunteers raised £94.06 on the raffle and tombola.

We will publish a grand total of monies raised, and pictures of the day, in a feature in our next issue.

Thank you to Asda Patchway, who had our charity buckets at the end of their checkouts for the duration of January and February, which raised £189.00.

We will be continuing to work with Asda throughout the year to raise more funds for Headway Bristol.

SPRING 2013

The lovely folk at Thrings LLP are pulling out the stops this summer with a number of fundraising events in support of local Headway groups.

Partners and colleagues at the company’s offices in London, Swindon, Bristol and Bath have already been busy, organising car washes, bake sales and raffles. They are planning a prize competition, too, later this year, with the profits from entry fees to be donated to Headway.

The biggest, and by far the most adventurous event the law firm is taking on in 2013 is the National Three Peaks Challenge, in which participants attempt to climb the highest mountains of Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon) within a 24 hour period.

The Challenge, which takes place this year over the weekend of 29 & 30 June, begins at Fort William in Scotland, or at Llanberis in Wales.

To prepare themselves for the challenge members of the PI Brain Injury team have joined an after-work running club in an attempt to get fit. A few went on a pre-trial trip to Snowdonia recently, where they climbed Snowdon to get a feel for the real challenge.

Other team members have taken up spinning at the local gym, and the full

group has organised a walking trip to the Brecon Beacons, again to help get a feel of climbing mountains.

The aim of those fundraising for Headway Bristol is to raise at least £1,250. The total already achieved is £757.00, so it looks fairly certain the target will be met.

If you would like to support Thrings in their Three Peaks Challenge you can do so via their Just Giving page - see:www.justgiving.com/teams/ThringsPeaksChallenge.

Useful websites Crossroads Care North Somerset provides help, support, advice and services to carers in North Somerset. See www.crossroadscare-ns.org.uk

DisabledGear.com is a FREE website for buying and selling second-hand disability equipment. See www.disabledgear.com

Bristol City Council provides a range of disability sports across the city. See www.bristol.gov.uk/node/1330

Holidays with Help provide respite care breaks in the UK for people with disabilities and their carers. See www.holidayswithhelp.org.uk

BBC gives ‘cracking’ media workshops! Headway Bristol would like to say a big thank you to the BBC in Bristol for providing us with some great opportunities this spring.

At the beginning of February a group of service users was invited to take a tour of BBC’s studios at Broadcasting House in Whiteladies Road.

As part of the tour Jo Sunderland, from BBC Ou t r ea ch and D i ve r s i t y department, arranged for everyone to have a go at being filmed reading the news and presenting the weather forecast. It was great fun, and a learning experience that all members of the group really valued.

In April we met with the BBC again, when Jo and colleagues twice visited Headway Centre to deliver animation model making workshops.

At the workshops service users and volunteers were taught to make plas t ic ine models of Aardman characters Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. The finished models looked incredibly authentic and everyone was excited to take their creations home.

One of our participants, Alison, told me afterward that she had enjoyed the session enormously and would love to be able to do it again.

Thank you to all at the BBC for the very special experiences they gave us.

Thrings take on the Three Peaks Challenge!

Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm

Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm, big supporters of local charities, chose Headway Bristol to receive a percentage of its profits during Christmas 2012 .

We were thrilled to receive a cheque from them for £750.

A huge thank you to Simon and Peter Maughan from the farm for choosing us as their charity.

SPRING 2013

SPRING 2013

Hello everyone, my name is Kate Hicks. I have been appointed Headway Bristol’s new Fundraiser, replacing Johnathan Swithinbank.

I am very excited about joining Headway Bristol. Prior to this I was Events Coordinator for ASDA near Cribbs Causeway, and I also have an extensive background in care. I am confident that my experience in both will make for a great Fundraiser for Headway Bristol.

If you have any ideas about fundraising or would like to help at any future events please get in touch, I would love to hear from you.

You can contact me by emailing to info@headwaybristol.org.uk, or by telephone on 0117 3403771

Headway Bristol has teamed up with Recycle4Charity to raise funds through the donation and recycling of old and unwanted

mobile phones and used ink cartridges.

Please hunt out those old phones and help us turn them into cash. The benefit is twofold as it doesn’t just provide extra funds for us

but it prevents old phones from becoming landfill waste.

Please send donations of phones and cartridges to us at Headway Centre, Frenchay

Headway Bristol needs to raise approximately £100,000 pa to enable us to continue to support brain injury survivors. We are dependant on the generosity of our supporters.

Thank you to everyone who continues to financially support the work we do. We couldn’t do it without you!

SIMPLE FUNDRAISING IDEAS Mufti Days at schools, workplaces, colleges …

Mufti days or dress down days are an ideal way to raise funds for Headway Bristol. Please think of us and nominate us to your workplace, school or college.

PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO GIFT AID YOUR DONATION. IT CAN INCREASE THE VALUE TO

US BY UP TO 25%

Ways to give

This is a very cost effective way for donations to be

made to Headway Bristol.

Donations can be made through the justgiving.com website and individual fundraisers are able to set up their own personal page, linked to Headway Bristol, to detail what they are doing to raise funds; e.g running a half marathon, trekking in Peru. The individual’s page shows how much has been raised, messages from supporters etc.

Supporters can sponsor the person online using a credit or debit card. There is also the option to gift aid all donations and increase the value of the donation by 25%. www.justgiving.com/headwaybristol

You can now donate to Headway Bristol via your mobile phone.

If you wish to donate by this method please text HWBR16 and the amount you want to donate

(£1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070

You will receive a text back thanking you for your donation and giving you the option to increase it by 25% simply by signing up for GIFT AID.

You only pay the cost of the donation, there is no charge for the text.

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