Lunch meeting, speaker Zoe Lane

HEADWAY IS 30 YEARS OLD

Henley Rotary Club’s lunch meeting on Tuesday last week at the Red Lion Hotel was the occasion for members to re-acquaint themselves with a prominent local charity which they had supported in the past.

Zoe Lane, fundraising manager for Headway Thames Valley, told members that it will be 30 years old this year, having been started in 1987 as Headway Berkshire, originally based at Battle Hospital, later moving to Townlands Hospital and, due to the re-development, is now based at Brunner Hall in Greys Road.

It seeks to improve the lives of adults with acquired brain injury and to raise awareness of its causes and effects. Although totally independent and responsible for its own fund-raising, it is affiliated to Headway UK.

Headway Thames Valley has 12 members of staff and sees 40 or 50 clients each week at its Brunner Hall headquarters, who may be suffering from the after-effects of road traffic accidents, sports injury, strokes, mild concussion or severe physical disability.  The clients are given physiotherapy to make them more independent, whilst their families are supported with information and assistance in understanding the condition.

Mrs Lane, who has lived in Henley for six years, explained the various fund-raising events as well as the outreach arrangements which covered further afield in Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire.

She then introduced Jamie Higgins, who has been working for the charity for three years as an outreach worker and media manager. He had suffered a brain injury himself in February 2012 as a result of hitting his head on the kerb, causing him to be in hospital for several weeks. He was told he had brain damage although he looked perfectly well.

Jamie described how he had become aggressive and how he had previously been good at maths. He was continually anxious and suffered crippling headaches, with no sense of smell or taste.

He heard of Headway about a year after the accident and his family encouraged him to go along, meeting other people showed that one was not alone. They offered him a job and, although he still suffers from fatigue, it taught him how to control his energy.

Encouraging other sufferers, helping to run groups in Reading and Bracknell, Jamie had become such a core part of the organisation, Mrs Lane emphasised.

A grateful vote of thanks to both speakers was voiced by club president Lionel Scott.