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Join our competition on Facebook and seize a great opportunity. If you are the 50th person to like the BRAINBOX Facebook page you will win a £30 HMV voucher. 

Be part of it and help us raise awareness about brain injury – there is still a lot to be done. And your contribution is so important. 

Make sure to check out our Facebook page and share this with your family and friends and help us make a difference.

ACTION FOR BRAIN INJURY WEEK 2012: HELP RAISE AWARENESS

I bet a lot of you didn’t know that this week was Action for Brain Injury Week. From the 14th to the 20th of May, Headway the Brain Injury Association wants to raise awareness about brain injury carers who lack support from health care providers and social services departments.

By surveying these carers, Headway managed to assess some startling figures about the current state of brain injury care.

• 60% of brain injury carers feel they do not receive adequate support in their caring duties.
• Just 7% of brain injury carers receive help from social workers in their caring duties.
• Only a quarter (27%) of brain injury carers have received a carers assessment.
• Half (49.5%) of survey respondents were not aware they were entitled to a carer’s assessment, despite the legal requirement for local authorities to ensure carers are made aware of their right to an assessment.
• Just 24% of brain injury carers are satisfied with their health. Conversely, a worrying 8% are ‘very dissatisfied’ with their own health.
• 18% of brain injury carers rate their quality of life as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
• 59% are showing signs of clinical depression with 21% in the severe or extremely severe range.

Help Headway and other local or national brain injury charities raise awareness about this issue by sharing these figures with your friends online. Let’s help make a difference in the UK and let’s help these carers receive the support they deserve.

Courtesy of Headway.

REACHING OUT TO BIG LOTTERY TO PROMOTE A LOCAL CAUSE

Take this as an interesting example of how as a brain injury charity you could make use of a very special way of funding. Headway recently proved that in order to get something out of a lottery it is not merely about being lucky. The Big Lottery Fund awarded the charity grants of several thousand pounds for its range of help and support of people with brain injury. The application process for this is easy and definitely worthwhile, considering how this funding option can have a significant impact on people’s lives and the communities.

To recognise and boost the effort by Headway Ballymena to support people who have brain injuries, the Award for All Programs has granted Headway £6,600. The amount will cater for a respite break to England for the members and their carers, which will give them a chance to go for a holiday. Stephen is one of the people living with brain injury and now lives an independent life. He cycles and is a member of Ballymena Cycling club and volunteer at Headway. The charity organisation brings a sense of belonging to the community to people living with brain injury. It also enhances their social life whereby they can make friends.

Hopefully, within the next few years we are going to see some more of this kind of sponsorship happening.

Courtesy of Northern Ireland News.

LIFE’S ADVENTURES DON’T END WITH BRAIN INJURY

If you have managed to find us in the great frontier that is the Internet, we really appreciate you supporting our cause. If you are interested in brain injury or supporting local not-for-profits in the North East, please check back with us occasionally for the latest updates.

Having a brain injury can be a very disastrous and sorrowful experience, but one has to realise that with proper care and counselling, there is life after brain injury. Take Justin Miles, for example, he’s an adventurous man proving that life goes on after ABI.

Justin had a severe brain injury in 1999, but he came to the realisation that there is life after brain injury, and now he does various activities to encourage other sufferers of brain injury that life does not have to come to a standstill because of the incident.

In his words, he says “I haven’t let what happened to me beat me and I want other people who have suffered or who are suffering from brain injuries to never just accept them. You need to make happen what you want to happen – it’s tough, but improvements can be made and there is always hope.”

Justin had the care and counselling which aided his recovery. This is the kind of care, love and counselling also offered by BRAINBOX. We provide all the support one needs to aid recovery process. And just like Justin said, we help people realise that despite the fact that they might have a brain injury, their future is still as bright as ever. We work with the theme “Bright Youths…Our Passion…Bright Future”.

Your future is still bright despite the incident.

If you would like to share your story about dealing with or being affected by brain injury, please email us at brainboxukpr@gmail.com. Also, help spread the word about BRAINBOX by following our blog, liking our Facebook page or following us on Twitter: @brainbox_uk.

Courtesy of Kenilworth Weekly News.