News

A woman who suffered from a brain injury earlier on this year, when she was diagnosed with a brain infection, is now training to run the London Marathon on 26th April 2020.

Amy Gordon, 24, Oxford is running the 26.2 mile-long Marathon for the first time to raise awareness and money for Oxford Head Injury Services – an Oxfordshire based specialist brain injury support charity and is encouraging people to follow her journey and support the charity.

Amy, who works as an accountant in Oxford says: “I was diagnosed with a brain infection in January this year and it very nearly killed me. Since I came out of hospital in February I have been supported by Headway and they have helped me get as much of my pre-brain injury life back as possible. I am running the Marathon to thank Headway for their continued support and raise as much money as possible so they can support even more brain injury survivors”

Sharelle Holdsworth, Marketing and Events Officer at Oxford Head Injury Services, added: “We’re so grateful to Amy for running the London Marathon in aid of Oxford Head Injury Services. The money she raises will help the charity to continue to provide a range of support including; advice and advocacy, holistic rehabilitation activities and additional support within the community. Last year, 3,789 people in Oxfordshire were admitted to hospital with a brain injury. This is a 43% increase in the number of hospital admissions over the past 10 years, so there has never been such an urgent need for our support services.”

If you would like to follow Amy’s journey from brain injury to marathon, you can find her blog at 26milesbraininjury.wordpress.com where there are regular updates on training and life after brain injury, together with an online donation page.

Want to hold your own fundraising challenge in aid of Oxford Head Injury Services? It can be as simple as taking part in our Hats for Headway day, a bake off and sale with your colleagues or a HedOx Live Music Gig in your community. Big or small, the money you raise will help Oxford Head Injury Services to transform the lives of people affected by brain injury.

Get your free fundraising pack today and you’ll receive everything you need to get started. Email our supportive fundraising team at events@headway-oxford.org.uk.

Oxford Head Injury Services are thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of both our exciting new website and three new moving and insightful videos around our work.  We are just working on the final touches and ensuring that everything is in place for the launch next month.

New features will include: an easy referral process, online payments and a quick payment event booking system. You will be able to sign up for communications; making it easier for you to stay up to date with news and events at OHIS. The Activity and Rehabilitation Centre timetable will be available online and the website will also include Research Corner for professionals to share their most recent research on brain injury.

For all our Headway Heroes and those fundraising for OHIS, there will be even more support to help you along with your fundraising journey and to support you to organise fundraising events within your community. The website is designed to make getting involved with Oxford Head Injury Services even easier and we’ll be offering more opportunities for service users, carers, professionals and corporate supporters to engage with us and our work. We are also launching our Oxford Head Injury Services shop – all proceeds raised from sales will go directly towards the provision of services for those affected by brain injury across Oxfordshire.

The website was created with accessibility, user engagement and ease-of-use in mind. We hope you like our new look!

And finally, we will be launching three new video projects; the first, “This is Oxford Head Injury Services”, take you to the heart of who we are and the work we do. This will be launched on Friday 26^th July at 2pm! (To watch the premiere click here). This video features service users describing the value of the support they receive and looks at some of the activities and therapies that we offer at our Activity and Rehabilitation Centre. In “Becoming a Corporate Supporter”, we hear from corporate sponsors and supporters about their relationship with OHIS and how this adds real value to their organisation; including staff engagement, satisfaction and retention. Lastly “Volunteer with Oxford Head Injury Services” demonstrates the breadth and depth of the amazing work of volunteers in supporting OHIS’s front-line services and fundraising goals. All these films will be available to view on our new website, so  don’t forget to add our This is Oxford Head Injury Services video launch to your calendars!

If you have any questions, please call on 01865 326263 or email admin@headway-oxford.org.uk.