Headway Newsflash
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the second newsflash for Headway Gloucestershire and thank you for everything each person does to support each other within our community.
It has been a busy few months and we had some summer weather too. I know that’s always a mixed bag as it’s lovely to see the Sun but then we all start to feel the impact of the heat.
Firstly, Congratulations to Hilary Osborne who has been recognised as the Trustee of the Year. The ceremony took place on 6th June. It was a lovely event, celebrating the best of the amazing people who Volunteer in many different roles and do make a massive difference. This was the first Gloucestershire Volunteer Awards Ceremony, so it is brilliant that Hilary was recognised. Hilary has supported the organisation for a long time in a variety of roles and we can’t thank her enough.
(Peter Davies and Hilary Osborne with the Certificate and Plaque for Trustee of the Year for Hilary)
Keeping on this theme, we held an afternoon tea for the Volunteers on 13 June, to recognise their wonderful contribution to Headway Gloucestershire. I am taking this opportunity as well to thank Angela, Cherry, Matt, Rebecca and Roxy for their support at Headway Gloucestershire.
Also, huge congratulations to Paul Park who was one of two winners for the Headway UK Christmas Card competition, so his design will be available to purchase and the original is now up on the wall in the Day Room.
(Paul and the Friday crew with his award winning Christmas Card design)
Staff and Volunteers have been busy with some training, to ensure that we support everyone properly. This has included First Aid, Food Hygiene, Fire Warden and Mental Health First Aid.
Sam has also successfully passed two Level 2 courses in Team Leading and Understanding Autism. These were free courses that Sam has completed in her own time. Congratulations Sam!
We have been fortunate to be supported by some Multiplicity funding (Government funding), which has enabled additional creative activities (facilitated by Cotswold Communities First) to be delivered. This has included glass painting and mosaic making.
Transport Challenges – we know that some of you have to deal with difficulties in accessing transport to us and we are ensuring that this issue is raised wherever we can.
The survey stage of the work with the University of Gloucestershire and the evaluation of our enablement service is now complete. We will also reach out to families and carers by email shortly to ask for their feedback. Thank you to everyone who took part. This is an exciting piece of work, is independent of Headway Gloucestershire and will allow us to understand what we do well and what we can do better. We will share the outcomes from the report later in the year.
Please do complete suggestions slips (in the main entrance hall) if you have ideas/suggestions on things we can do better. A couple received recently related to suggestions for outdoor chairs and tables now we have the awnings and also for outdoor games.
The awnings were possible because, alongside the fundraising that was done – thank you, we applied for and received a grant from the Cheltenham Gold Cup Community Fund. Without this, we wouldn’t have had enough money for the awnings.
We have been successful in receiving some grants and legacies (where people have left us a donation in their Will) over the last few months. We now have the funding to build a wheelchair accessible path in the garden and some raised beds. The work will start on this in September and will then provide us with more useable space next Spring/Summer. We are also prioritising new equipment that is needed throughout the building.
We are so grateful for the fundraising that does take place, and I will be looking at more opportunities over the coming months.
As a Charity that has contracts with the NHS and various County Councils, the funding received does not cover the costs of staffing, let alone running the building, so we do use our reserves to provide the services we offer. I have also just completed some large funding applications, which, if we are successful will enable us to deliver an enhanced service across Gloucestershire, so fingers crossed!
The Severn Trent Community Fund grant has really helped Cath, Christine and Estelle move forwards with the Community Outreach meetings to support the ABI community throughout Gloucestershire. It has also allowed us to increase the amount of carer support meetings we hold.
(The first Cheltenham Outreach Group)
We have been successful in an application for Government funding to make the building more energy efficient. As we own the building, this does make a lot of sense. You may have seen Sam and I walking round with people to get quotes. This will be for Air Source Heat Pumps, Solar Panels, Improved windows, more insulation and LED Lighting throughout the building. These measures will have energy savings and of course reduce our outgoings in terms of gas and electricity bills.
We have been lucky enough to host the Victoria Ukulele Group and have Pets as Therapy Dogs coming in soon. We do change the programme of activities every 6 weeks, so please tell us about any ideas you have.
On 10th June there was a carer support meeting which was a Question-and-Answer session with an expert (Redkite Law) regarding Power of Attorney.
On 14th June 2024, we had a stand at the Big Health Day in Gloucester and similar on 2 July for Skillzone, Gloucester.
I continue to attend relevant networking events and promote our service and encourage people to volunteer with us. I also go to Gloucestershire County Council events such as the Community Provider and Disability Provider forum meetings. I have written to all the new MPs in Gloucestershire reminding them of the importance of support for people with an acquired brain injury and their families.
| What | When | Who to contact |
| Carer support meetings | Monthly | Cath Johnson / Sam Dallow |
| Community Outreach meetings | Monthly | Cath Johnson / Sam Dallow |
| Specialist expert session for our carer support group. Redkite Law – Wills Q&A | 11 September 2024 | Sam Dallow / Cath Johnson |
| Christmas Fayre (dare I say this) | 5th December 2024 | Paige Parfitt |
| ABI Games 2025 (let’s get a team together – this was started by Headway Worcestershire and includes creative expression, life skills, physical activities and cognitive skills) | 20 August 2025 in Worcester | Lisa Warren |
John Trigg (husband of Sue, who comes in on a Thursday) has done an amazing job in painting the front porch of the building. Thank you so much John, we really do appreciate it and for doing this free of charge for us. As some of you know, this was something I really wanted doing, so that the building feels more welcoming as I know how much courage it takes to walk through that door for the first time.
There have been several necessary upgrades to the Fire Alarms, Fire Doors and Smoke Detectors and we have also undertaken a trial evacuation. Thank you all for your understanding and a reminder to leave the building by the nearest exit to you. So, if you are in the Day Room or the Art Room etc, leave through the door that leads out to the garden, not through the main entrance.
A few members of staff came into the office on a Saturday and undertook a rearranging of furniture and storage in order to create more space in the Day Room and use better storage in the Art Room.
There were some plumbing issues which have now been resolved in the toilets, the art room etc
The cooker we purchased in January was not working correctly and has now been exchanged. George says the new one is behaving well!
Toilet #3 This toilet, as it is the smallest one doesn’t have the grab rails and supports that the other toilets have. As a result of this, a notice has been placed on the door for this toilet advising of the lack of grab rails and the issue has been discussed with staff. I have considered adding grab rails and supports to this toilet, but it is a very small area and would therefore prove challenging and there are a further 3 toilets downstairs which do have these facilities.
We are working with a local artist to create a mural in the entrance hall on the left hand side as you enter the building. Thank you all for your comments on the initial design options – further designs are now being developed to take into account your views.
Day Room Chairs – I know there are some chairs that are definitely past their best! I have approval from the Trustees to purchase some new chairs once we receive payment for some outstanding invoices into our bank account. The chairs are over £350.00 each, so we are doing some work on looking at different designs/fabrics to try to make sure we get the best for the room.
I think I have written enough for now. If you have ideas or concerns, do give me a shout or come and see me.
Julie
Julie Reader-Sullivan
(CEO Headway Gloucestershire)
