Headway Essex was delighted to receive a grant of £9,149 from Catalyst to pilot a new rehabilitation programme for adults with an acquired brain injury, in collaboration with the University of Essex’s Health, Wellbeing and Care Hub (HWCH).

The project addresses the gap in services and long waiting lists experienced by adults with an ABI. They usually require additional intensive rehabilitation, but find themselves unable to access timely help through the statutory health or social care organisations.

The project is called the ‘Next Steps’ programme, which offers rehabilitation from the hub’s clinicians and therapy students (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy). They work alongside Headway Essex staff to provide cognitive and social rehabilitation, supporting them to adjust and cope with the effects of their brain injury.

The weekly sessions are tailored according the individual’s particular brain injury and symptoms, making them meaningful to each participant.

From an anonymous beneficiary:  “They were so tailor-made and beneficial for my speech, swallowing, cognitive processes, diarising, monitoring my energy levels and following exercises to carry on with.”

At the end of the programme, participants understood their brain injury better; how to manage the effects; plus they also gain practical strategies for coping with daily life and recovering.

From an anonymous beneficiary: “I have gained a better understanding of the type of brain injury I have experienced and how it affects me. I have also learned that it is OK to feel the way I do.” Without the grant from Catalyst, Headway Essex said it would not have been able to run this pilot so successfully. The charity can now use the positive results from the pilot to apply to other grant-makers to fund even more future sessions at the hub.