By Callum Wright
A Nottingham brain injury charity is hosting new educational sessions to help members regain skills and abilities they struggle with due to their conditions.
Headway Nottingham, in Basford, offers different services and support for people suffering from a range of different brain injuries.
The organisation is now hosting a wider range of sessions where members can take part in activities to help them relearn their cognitive skills and provide motivation, with sessions including creative writing and maths studies.
Liz Bennett, from Keyworth, has been going to Headway for more than two years since she suffered a brain injury in 2017, and says the group have made her feel ‘safe.’
She said: “On a daily basis I’ve got very bad short and long term memory, I forget names, but also I have problems being motivated to do things which is why this is so great because it’s made me realise I can motivate myself to do something.
“I just feel protected really, safe and understood, that’s the big thing, I’m normally quite articulate, haven’t lost my intelligence just some of my functions, but I’m still me underneath and in the real world people don’t see that.”
One of the sessions that members could take part in was arts and crafts, during which they made pictures using scrabble letters stuck to paper, which the words reading what Headway meant to them – Liz’s photo had words reading ‘Headway rescued me now not alone.’
She added: “That’s what Headway really means to me, it saved me.
“It’s helped me so much with lots of practical things, not just these sessions but they’ve helped me fill in forms so I can afford to come here, I don’t know what all of us would do with out it to be honest.”
The arts and crafts session was led by volunteer Glenda Templeton, who says keeping the activities varied is very beneficial.
“Because there’s so many different types of abilities, it’s good to be able to adapt to each person, even one of our service users is blind but with the help of a support worker he’s been able to paint,” she said.
“It brings forward their creative skills, their use of colour and different textures, and just making something that’s really fun, a lot of people when they first come in think that they won’t be able to do anything and actually they’re really happy by the end of the session when they finish something.”
Glenda is just one of several volunteers who help provide such session for the members, and since the success of the new activities the charity is appealing for more people to come and help out.
Assistant Manager Rhiana Lakin says having more helping hands can only be a good thing for the charity.
She said: “At the moment we’ve got around ten volunteers that come and support us every week, and the work they do in the centre is amazing because it really allows us to maximise the benefits of the rehabilitation workshops that we provide.
“The more volunteers we have then the better able we are to provide some really important rehabilitation for our clients, we really welcome people with a wide variety of skillsets.”
Those who want to be referred to Headway are encouraged to fill out a referral form on their website, Headway Nottingham.
