Liz Bamber

Headway Preston and Chorley has been awarded a Big Lottery grant of £6075.00. The money will fund a 12 month ‘relationships after brain injury project’ for adults who have sustained a brain injury through an accident, infection or illness. After a brain injury some people lose their sense of identity due to personality changes which has an impact on their relationships with others. It can be difficult for the person to come to terms with and difficult for families who feel the person they once knew and loved has slipped away, together with their character and their individual ways. If you would like to book a place please telephone 01772 791460 or 07583 637 197

Or email: services@headwaycentrallancashire.org.uk

We are delighted to announce that Mark and Nicola Tipping who raise money for local charities through their festive lights display are supporting Headway this year. The couple, who live in Cottam, were given a British Citizen Award for service to volunteering and charitable giving this year awarded to them at the Palace of Westminster. Please visit the display in Valentines Meadow, Cottam PR4 0LF and make a donation to the worthwhile causes.

Headway Preston & Chorley is urging people to keep safe over the festive period to avoid acquiring a head or brain injury. Headway’s message is clear; keep yourself safe, look after your friends and get home safely.

The campaign is all about thinking ahead and being mindful of the dangers of acquiring a head injury while out celebrating, particularly while drinking alcohol. Keeping an ICE number (in case of emergency) in your phone and planning how you are going to get home is just as important as the night out itself.

According to recent statistics a large number of head injuries are sustained through trauma such as falls, assaults and road traffic collisions. If trauma to your brain is severe, it can lead to bleeding, bruising and swelling inside the brain and can even kill. Even a minor bump to the head can have long term effects and cause memory loss, depression and insomnia.

Liz Bamber, Headway campaign manager said: “Through our work at Headway, we are seeing a growing number of individuals who unfortunately acquire a traumatic brain injury though accidents and assaults. At this time of year in particular, people tend to enjoy more parties and nights out than usual and excessive drinking can lead to people being in more vulnerable positions, as a result accidents can and do happen. We are hoping that this campaign will help prevent more instances of brain injury and remind people to keep themselves safe and look out for others”.

The annual golf day organised by Fletchers Solicitors is Headway Preston & Chorley’s biggest fundraising event of the year. It is an event which is attracting a regular following each year, and a number of local and national companies dust off their golf clubs to raise much needed funds for Headway. This year they raised a massive £7000. Liz Bamber, Project Manager for Headway in Preston said, “On behalf of the staff, volunteers and clients, I would like to thank Fletchers Solicitors for their ongoing support. We rely solely on fundraising to keep the charity going and the amount raised this year represents a fifth of our annual income which is a tremendous boost to our funds”.

Councillor Sue Prynn, former Mayor of Penwortham adopted Headway Preston & Chorley as her charity of the year in 2014/2015. With her year coming to an end a few months ago Sue and the team at Penwortham Town Council wanted to donate the money they had raised through fundraising events and presented Headway at the August 2015 session with a cheque for £3500.00. Trustess, staff, volunteers and members all thanks Sue and the team for their support.

On 4th August 2015 Headway recruited a third member of staff to join the charity team. Laura Brown will be overseeing volunteers and small charity events. Other staff members have changed roles in a restructure designed to enhance and increase service delivery.

Margaret Cliffe is the new Services Cordinator and Liz Bamber has become the Headway Project Manager.

Chair of Headway Preston & Chorley, Sarah Charnley said, “Headway in Preston has grown rapidly over the last 12 months as the demand for our services has increased. The staff restructure will enable us to work more effectively to meet our objectives and achieve the charities outcomes. Most importantly, we will have more staff time to dedicate to the needs of brain injury survivors and their families”.