This is the latest edition of our “What we learned this Month…..” newsletter in which we intend to open the doors of Oxford Head Injury Services so you can take a look inside and see what we have been up to, we hope you enjoy them and look forward to hearing about what you think about Oxford Head Injury Services
Building for our Future
If you have visited or passed by our home in Kennington over the past couple of weeks you can’t help but of noticed the sights and sounds of construction, our Activity and Rehabilitation centre has been a hive of activity, swarming with builders and trucks delivering building materials.
We are entering what promises to be one of the most exciting times in our 30 year history, our long awaited plans to renovate and upgrade our home in Kennington are now underway. By the end of September the centre will be transformed, allowing us to expand and offer new services to our existing service users and carers, as well as increasing our capacity to support even more people affected by brain injury across Oxfordshire.
The new centre will include:
: A new and improved dedicated physiotherapy room
: A fully fitted top of the range kitchen outfitted by a new friends at Smeg Abingdon. The kitchen will allow us to run healthy cooking sessions with our service users.
: A sensory room, a restful space for our service users to get away from the sensory overload of daily life.
: Brand new state of the art accessible toilets.
:New flooring throughout the centre.
:New reception area and new spaces for our staff, allowing the entire centre to be used for rehabilitation and activities, and dedicated rooms for one on one advice and support sessions with individual service users and their carers.
All of us at Oxford Head Injury Services are hugely excited about the changes and how they will allow us to evolve, grow and expand our vital work in our community.
And your support is as ever vital to us, so rest assured we will keep you updated as we build our future.
All aboard for our annual barge trip
A couple of weeks ago Oxford Head Injury Services headed down to the River for our now annual jaunt on the Thames. As I am sure you will have noticed we have yet again been blessed with a traditional sun drenched summer?! , and the day we headed out on old father Thames, mother nature didn’t let us down as we were met with torrential rain and less than balmy temperatures.
But the being the fine examples of plucky Brits we are, we didn’t let it spoil what proved to a wonderful day, everyone took a hand on the tiller, Stuart entertained everyone with a tune or two on his harmonica and broad smiles stood in for the absent sun.
It all kicked off at the Play2Give football tournament
The annual Play2Give 6 a side football tournament took place on July 3rd at the Oxford City football ground. 12 teams contested for the cup with proceeds split between Oxford Head Injury Services and The Oxford Children’s Hospital. The Oxford Head Injury Services team managed by the gaffer himself Patrick just missed out on the final losing a keenly contested semi-final and finished in a very creditable 3rd place.
The final was contested by the Barton Old Boys and the BBK, with the old boys seizing the trophy at the end of the day.
Huge thanks to everyone who took part both on and off the pitch, the sponsors Breckon and Breckon and the Newbury Building Society and to Oxford City Football Club for hosting the event, the referees, all the supporters, and of course the 12 teams.
An extra special thanks once again to Andy Baker to his tireless work in putting together another fabulous event.
Tee off for Oxford Head Injury Services at our Charity Golf Day Classic
It’s that time of the year again, we are building up to one of our favourite events of the year, the annual Oxford Head Injury Services Charity Golf Day classic 2016!
This year it will take place on Thursday 8th September, and is the perfect opportunity for a business away day, team building exercise, client networking event or just a chance to play on of the country’s finest golf courses with your friends and at the same time support our vital work in our local community.
Once again we will playing on the lush greens of the Frilford Heath Golf Club, recently voted one of the top 100 Golf courses in England.
Frilford Heath Golf Club is located to the South of Oxford on 500 acres of glorious undulating Heathland. Rarely can a golf club offer three championship golf courses (Red, Green and Blue) that allow the opportunity to revel in their classical or modern challenge.
Once again Oxford Head Injury Services Golf Day Classic will be a four ball (four players in each team) competition
8.30am: Arrive at Frilford Green Golf Club, coffee tea and bacon rolls will be served on your arrival
Morning: Texas Scramble 9 hole competition
A light Sandwich lunch will be served when your team completes your round
Afternoon: Stableford 18 hole competition
Evening: Enjoy a 2 course carvery dinner at the club house restaurant
It’s always a fantastic day so we invite you to put together a team of four and join us on the day.
The day costs just £55.00 per team member for members of Frilford Heath Golf Club, or £95.00 for non-members, this includes all course fees, breakfast on arrival, lunch and the 2 course carvery dinner.
If you would like to be take part please download and complete this application form and e-mail it to charlie@headway-oxford.org and charlotte@headway-oxford.org.uk
Charity Golf Day Classic 2016 application form
You can pay for your Golf Day directly into our account (our account details are on the application form) or by cheque (details on the form)
We would love to see you and your team on the day so do join us for the Oxford Head Injury Services Charity Golf Day Classic on Thursday September 8th, see you on the greens!
Introducing Connecting Carers
Ever since it’s founding nearly 30 years ago Oxford Head Injury Services has dedicated itself to supporting people affected by acquired brain injury across Oxfordshire.
Over that 30 years we know first hand that it’s not just the person who suffers the brain injury whose life is changed forever. Husband’s, wives, daughters, sons and friends and families lives are also affected fundamentally in an instance.
So respite for carers families and friends has always been at the centre of everything we do, and with that it in mind we have come up with a program of events for carers under the banner Oxford Head Injury Services Connecting Carers, a regular line-up of social and advice and educational events where you can meet fellow carers, swap experiences and advice, and learn more about your loved one’s condition in special sessions with our highly experienced community workers and personal assistants.
Calendar of Connecting Carer events
8th August 2016 1.30pm-3.00pm-Coffee Afternoon- Annie’s Tea Room in Thrupp
12th September 2016 2.00pm-3.30pm-Coffee Afternoon- Activity Centre or Tandem Pub Kennington
11th October 2016 7.00pm-8.30pm-New carers evening (Advice and support for new carers)- Activity Centre Kennington
8th November 2016 7.00pm-9.00pm-New carers & experienced carers evening (advice and support)-Activity Centre Kennington
9th December 2016 10.00am-11.30am-Coffee Morning- The Boat Yard Cafe in Benson
10th January 2017 7.00pm-8.30pm-Emotional and Behavioural Changes Course (educational session)- Activity Centre Kennington
13th February 2017 2.00pm-3.30pm-Coffee Afternoon- Activity Centre or Tandem Pub Kennington
16th March 2017 1.30pm-3.00pm-Coffee Afternoon- Annie’s Tea Room in Thrupp
All these are completely free to attend and won’t cost you a penny, if you would like more details please contact Emma Riley at Oxford Head Injury Services on 01865 326 263 or email emma@headway-oxford.org.uk
If you would like to attend all or some of the Connecting Carer events please fill out this form and return it by email to Emma
Connecting Carers Event Registration form
Have your voice heard take part in the Neurological Alliance Survey 2016
The Neurological Alliance has launched its second neurological patient experience survey.
The survey aims to collect vital information about the experiences of care received by people affected by neurological conditions and help to understand how much progress has been made in improving neurological services.
The Neurological Alliance needs your feedback to be able to make the strongest case to decision makers about how services need to change. Oxford Head Injury Services fully supports the Neurological Alliance in its ambitions, and we welcome the survey as an important tool in measuring improvements to neurological services in the future.
The survey is open until September 30th and the Alliance welcomes responses from anyone with a neurological condition living in England.
They will be using the survey findings to feed into a report early next year. The report will set out a comprehensive picture of what is happening in relation to neurological services and make recommendations about how care can be improved.
Why is the Neurological Alliance launching a neurological patient experience survey?
The neurological patient experience survey is a vital tool helping the Neurological Alliance gather important information about the experiences of care, treatment and support received by people affected by neurological conditions. It will also help the Neurological Alliance understand what progress has been made in improving neurological services and what still needs to happen.
The previous iteration of our survey, conducted in 2014, produced a wealth of data and information which has been used for a wide range of campaigning and research activity.
This year’s survey will assess progress compared to 2014 as well as incorporating a wider range of additional questions and topics to help us gather a fuller picture of what it is like living with a neurological condition’. The survey results will be written up into a report and published by the Neurological Alliance in early 2017, and will set out a comprehensive picture of what is happening in relation to neurological services, care and support, and make recommendations about how they can be improved. They will share the report with decision makers who have influence over how NHS and social care services are designed and delivered.
If you would like to take part in the survey click here to begin.
And Finally
Just last week our friends from Oxford’s Natural History Museum visited us to talk to the Tuesday Gang about the work of the musem and gave the service users a chance to get up close and personal with some of their amazing exhibits.
