Latest News
Boston Golf Club Ladies Choose Headway Lincolnshire as Charity of the Year!
We are excited to announce that Boston Golf Club’s Ladies’ Team has chosen Headway Lincolnshire as its charity of the year!
Val Simpson, the Ladies’ Captain from Boston Golf Club, based at Cowbridge, chose Headway Lincolnshire at the beginning of her captaincy on 21st September 2022 and has recently begun volunteering for us too.
Val said: “We’re extremely proud to be supporting such a dedicated local cause.
“Headway Lincolnshire supports anyone who is affected by life-changing problems following an acquired brain injury and relies wholly on donations to carry out its support.
“Golf clubs have always had good reputations for supporting local charities, and we’re planning to host a number of events to raise funds for the team to help them continue their good work.”
Ann-Marie Smith, Coordinator and Development Officer at Headway Lincolnshire, said: "We are delighted that Val Simpson from Boston Golf Club has chosen to support us this year as 2022 is a very special year for Headway Lincolnshire as we celebrate our 35th anniversary.
“We are very much looking forward to working with Val and the ladies over the next year. Our aim during this milestone year is to raise the awareness around brain injury across the county of Lincolnshire.
“Every 90 seconds someone is admitted to hospital after an acquired brain injury, so the chances are many of us will know someone affected, perhaps as a result of a stroke, brain tumour or heart attack.
“If you’d like to get involved, our local Social Support Group meets at Wings Meadow in Boston every second Wednesday of each month from 10am to 11.30am.”
Keep an eye on our website, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin pages to find out how Boston Golf Club will be supporting us over the coming months!
For further information please contact Ann-Marie on 0754592526 or email info@headwaylincolnshire.org.uk.
National Love Your Pet Day: How do pets help injury rehabilitation and mental health?
Many of us are aware of the highs and lows of being a pet-parent, from the first hello to messy bath times and laugh-out-loud moments where your furry friend shows their unique personality. But are you also aware that owning a pet can do wonders for your mental health and help through injury rehabilitation? In honour of National Love Your Pet Day on Sunday 20th February, we’re taking a look at the health benefits of owning a pet and how they can potentially help your rehabilitation from a traumatic brain or head injury.
Reducing feelings of stress, anxiousness, and depression
Studies have shown that interacting with animals reduces cortisol levels (a stress-related hormone) and lowers blood pressure. Recovering from a brain or head injury may often cause feelings of worry or depression, so having a pet to interact with can serve as a welcome mood-booster and help give you a sense of purpose if you’re feeling a little lost during recovery.
Helping improve physical fitness
Having a pet, especially one that needs to be out and about such as a dog, can give you motivation to move and get socialising around others. Walking a dog means you can get your steps in, improve your cardiovascular health, give yourself a change of scenery and some fresh air and potentially even meet some new people if you regularly take the same routes and get to know others!
Companionship
Recovering from a head or brain injury can often be a lonely process, especially if you are having to take time off work or away from social activities. Although you may still have family and friends around, being removed from your normal routine can make you feel disjointed so having a pet provides companionship on your rehabilitation journey.
Therapy or service animals
Depending on your health and mobility needs during recovery, a specially trained service or therapy animal such as a dog may be a suitable option. They’re particularly helpful for people suffering from seizures, memory loss, or visual or hearing impairments. When recovering from a brain injury, your service animal will be able to help with balance, walking, awareness of your surroundings and remembering basic tasks such as taking medication. If you don’t need a service animal, you may consider joining a rehabilitation session that offers a therapy animal; these animals are trained to provide comfort and affection in schools, clinics or hospitals. It’s believed that stroking or hugging an animal can calm your nerves and improve your mental health too!
Social interactions
Pets are great conversation starters! If you’re taking your dog for a walk you may make new friends in certain parks or on walking routes by interacting with other dog walkers, you could get chatting about pet advice during one of Headway Lincolnshire’s social meetings, or if you feel up to it, you could even start a pet blog or Instagram account for your animal so that you can make friends over social media! You might even become the next viral pet sensation…
If you’d like to discuss any of the ideas mentioned in this article, or you’re seeking wider information about recovery from a traumatic brain injury, please email info@headwaylincolnshire.org.uk or visit our recovery and rehabilitation webpage here.
veronika-jorjobert-27w3ULIIJfI-unsplash.jpgSports related head injuries: interview with Lincoln City FC & University of Lincoln
We're pleased to showcase a radio clip discussing the prevalence of sports related head and brain injuries. The clip includes comments from Lincoln City Manager Michael Appleton, and Sean Morton, Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Lincoln and former emergency care and neurosurgery nurse.
The clip comes courtesy of Finley Cannon, editor of LincSport and sports journalism student at the University of Lincoln, who hosts the talk after collecting the audio at a press conference and has helped raise awareness of this important health issue. Click play on the audio file to listen!
We support people with life changing concussion and we’ve seen first-hand the consequences for sufferers, loved-ones and friends. Something like second impact syndrome can be extremely serious but completely avoidable; this is when a second concussion occurs before a first concussion hasn't properly healed, causing rapid and severe brain swelling with often catastrophic results. Second impact syndrome happens because of outdated attitudes to head injuries in sport. Professional sport is now addressing the issue and we hope Headway’s Concussion Aware campaign will help do the same for grassroots sport. More details on the 'If In Doubt, Sit It Out' campaign can be found here.
Headway Lincolnshire has also been voted as Lincoln City's charity of the year for 2022 alongside Carers First. Throughout the year they will be helping to raise funds and awareness for the work we do supporting survivors of life-changing brain injuries. As always, we are extremely grateful for their support.
Image credits: Finley Cannon and Zac Oaten
Sports head injuries.mp3
Shooting Star Chooses Headway Lincolnshire as Charity of the Year!
Award-winning PR, marketing and digital agency Shooting Star has chosen Headway Lincolnshire as its charity of the year! Take a look at their blog below to see what they said:
After receiving lots of brilliant applications from very worthy causes, we’re delighted to announce that Headway Lincolnshire is our charity of the year for 2022!
As always the decision was a tough one to make, but as a team we felt that we could help make a difference for a cause that is not talked about often enough.
Headway Lincolnshire supports survivors and their families across the county in the aftermath of a life-changing brain injury.
It is the only charity of its kind in the area, and it offers a wide range of support, for example rehabilitating those who have suffered a stroke and helping the survivors of assaults and attacks or life-changing car or sporting accidents.
Headway Lincolnshire also provides dedicated support for carers and families of injured loved ones through free counselling and a carers’ support group, as well as social meetings such as bowling and meals out.
Ann-Marie Smith, Co-ordination and Development Officer, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Shooting Star for their support of Headway Lincolnshire.
“Relationships with local and highly respected companies like Shooting Star help us to raise awareness of the vital work we do and the wide-ranging services available to brain injury survivors and their families in Lincolnshire.
“We are very impressed by Shooting Star and the great work they do. We really value them choosing us as their charity of the year and are looking forward to the year ahead with the team.”
2022 marks the 14th year of our charity of the year initiative, through which we help local good causes raise their profile through pro bono marketing, PR, digital and event support. Our past beneficiaries include the Bearded Fishermen, Help Us Grieve (HUG) and Jerry Green Dog Rescue to name a few.
Watch this space to find out how we plan to raise awareness for Headway Lincolnshire!
Lincoln City FC Announces Headway Lincolnshire as Charity of the Year!
Carers First and Headway Lincolnshire have been voted The Imps' charity partners following a supporter vote. They will join Lincoln City Foundation and Mind as club charity partners for 2022.
The results were extremely close with more than 2,000 votes. Thank you to everyone who voted and to those charities who took part in the vote.
Club charity partners are given priority for fundraising support and profile awareness. Throughout the season, the Lincoln City FC is committed towards helping these charities at management level in order to assist with fundraising activities, all designated to raise the profile of the charity. The official charity partners will be given the utmost priority for the club's help in fundraising activities, including matchday bucket collections.
Headway Easter Lunch
Location: The Dower House Hotel
Date: Thursday 14th April 2022
Time: Arrive at approximately 12:30 sit down at 1:00 pm.
The cost to members is £12.00 and to non- members £22.00
Thank you Langleys Solicitors - Fundraising Challenge
Click the image, to read more.
Impact of lockdown on brain injury survivors & families
Self isolation
Covid19 - What are we doing?
Our response to the COVID 19 pandemic.
The services and support that we currently provide are below.
Weekly wellbeing calls to members
Weekly Zoom Together From Home workshops and activities
Fortnightly Zoom carers group
Monthly Zoom social activities eg quiz, bingo
Monthly face-to-face social support groups
Monthly Zoom coffee morning
Signposting to relevant organisations to help those that are self isolating
Assessments for new referrals; these can take place virtually, in the community or in your own home
Encouraging members to access Health Unlocked, an online forum for brain injury survivors and carers
Regular emails on charity updates, local initiatives, and advice from local and central government
Updating social media regularly
Monthly wellbeing packs sent to members
Counselling sessions which can take place via virtually or face-to-face depending on your circumstances
Encouraging members to use the Headway Helpline
Signpost to other relevant organisations if needed