Local charity Headway Ayrshire has secured funding to help cover salary costs. The £5,500 award is coming from Corra Foundation and will be used to help pay a Professional Advisor.
Stephanie Kyle, the Project Co-ordinator, said: “Having a serious head injury is not only life changing it can also be extremely frightening for the individual and everyone around them. We all know that having the right information and support at the right time can help make difficult situations easier, and that’s what we work to achieve. Knowing what is happening, what choices are available and what can be done to improve the situation helps people feel more in control and able to get involved in their own treatment, and that is so important. In the last year we worked with over 300 individuals and 200 families, which shows the level of need there is in the area. In order to keep our services delivering in a way that makes the biggest difference we need to develop them, and that’s the role of the professional Advisor, so this funding is very welcome.”
Headway Ayrshire provides information and advice to people with an Acquired Brain Injury and to their families and carers, offers one to one support and runs community rehabilitation groups. Support is also given to help people claim the benefits they are due. Alongside this education work is carried out with schoolchildren, and health and social care staff to try to prevent head injuries happening in the first place. In the last year the number of home visits has increased by over 60%, making it easier for people to access information and support. Over 200 health care professionals have also been trained and new prevention programmes developed, all of which are aimed at making sure as few people as possible in South Ayrshire have to deal with the effects of Acquired Brain Injury.
Mary Craig OBE, Chief Executive of Corra Foundation, said: “Of course it is vitally important that anyone with a serious head injury gets the best care and support possible. What is so impressive about Headway Ayrshire is the active role they take in trying to prevent people ending up with head injuries in the first place. Work with schools and health care professionals means so many more people in South Ayrshire are aware of the risks and what can be done to prevent accidents that result in brain injury. While it can be hard to measure something that doesn’t happen, it is clear this work is making a very positive difference for people in the area. We know how hard it can be for local charities to cover their basic costs, and so many of our awards go to help with this. Headway Ayrshire’s award will be used to help pay for a salary, and without this post much of the development work would not be happening so the impact is clear.”
This is the Foundation’s seventh award for Headway Ayrshire since 1999, bringing the total support to £60,300. Of this, £57,600 has been used to help pay for salaries.
