Headway Shropshire are in partnership with 21 organisations delivering Building Better Opportunities in Shropshire. This programme started in January 2017 and will run  until December 2019.

The programme is joint funded by the European Social Fund and the Big Lottery to tackle the root causes of poverty, promote social inclusion and drive local jobs and growth. The programme is delivered in 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas according to local priorities. (See: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf).

As part of the Shropshire Building Better Opportunities project Headway Shropshire want to help improve  the employability, motivation and confidence within the care sector of those on the programme by offering 12-week work placements within the Rehab and Reablement centre based on the Oxon business park in Shrewsbury.

The Rehab centre is open five days a week, Monday – Friday where the rehab staff support clients in various activities throughout the day including;

o    Arts and Crafts

o    Independent living skills

o    Woodwork

o    Computers

o    Gardening

o    Communication groups

o    Quizzes

o    Games

o    Physical exercise

During the 12 weeks, individuals in the Building Better Opportunities programme can work alongside the rehab team to support clients throughout their day at Headway Shropshire helping to increase their understanding of various disabilities and gain valuable skills and experience in;

o    Supporting people with acquired brain injuries

o    Communication

o    Offering emotional support

o    Assisting clients in activities

o    Assisting with personal care

o    Delivering person centred care

The work placement coordinator will support individuals on placement with their initial induction, with job searching on the internet and CV update.

Access to the internet will also be provided so that individuals can job search independently and complete E-Learning in subjects relating to Health and Social care these include:

o    Health and Safety

o    Food Hygiene

o    Infection Control

o    Risk Assessment

o    Safeguarding of Adults

o    Diversity and Equality

o    Mental Capacity Awareness

o    Confidentiality

o    Epilepsy Awareness

o    Stroke Awareness

Headway Shropshire hope that our work placements can benefit individuals by;

o    Increasing their confidence, empathy and respect for others

o    Giving opportunities to develop transferable skills such as team work

o    Allowing individuals to experience Health and Social care and to decide whether or not it is the right career for them

o    Providing experience needed to help people move onto vocational courses

o    Increasing job opportunities in the heath sector

o    Giving something to add to individual’s applications and references

o    Show individuals how rewarding it is supporting people.

Contact details:
Hattie (Harriet) Beardsley – BBO Work Placement Coordinator

T: 01743 365271
E:

The project has received funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund as part of the 2014/2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations.  For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

Our staff in the Rehabilitation Centre have spent the last week planning and creating a Summer Festival in the centre.  Many of our clients were unfortunately unable to attend our Summer Fair which took place in the evening, so we bought the festival to the clients.

Sarah MacBeth our Rehabilition Centre Manager was really pleased with how the event went "It was lovely to see everyone getting involved and we had lots of fun".

Support staff were adding a touch of sparkle all week by offering Glitter Art and Temporary Tattoos.  We had lots of handmade and donated items on a stall for clients to buy throughout the week and it was a lovely way to raise some money for the Rehabilitation Centre.

Find out what it’s REALLY like to be a volunteer in the Rehabilitation Centre here at Headway Shropshire as Michael, one of our fundraisers, talks to Sally, a long-serving volunteer in the Headway Shropshire Rehabilitation Centre...

So Sally, how long have you been a volunteer at Headway Shropshire?

I think it’s 17 years this year.

And what sort of things have you done here?

Well, we used to come in and do everything – anything – you know, if washing up needed doing, and then it was suggested ‘Well why don’t we use your talents?”, so I do cognitive work because I was a primary school teacher – reading; I’m not so hot on the numbers, so it’s mostly reading, and cognitive exercises, that sort of thing. And at the moment I’ve have two clients that I work with one morning each week.

One is aphasic, so he has difficulties reading and talking; and the other one reads very well, but her sight’s been poor, and she doesn’t remember it, so she’s got memory problems but she can read very well in fact.

So do you find that you tend to read the same things more than once to help it sink in?

Well, my one client’s reading though a favourite series of books at the moment. She just wants to re-read them all because she’s read them before, but doesn’t remember any of them. But she’s getting better at remembering, because I’ll go back two or three pages, ‘Oh yes’, she says, ‘I remember that, and then he does so-and-so’, and I say ‘So you see you ARE beginning to remember’.

As for the other client I work with, he has great difficulty with speaking and gets very frustrated, and I’ll say things like ‘Well, try and go round a different way, instead of trying to do it the way you’re doing it’, and it works sometimes.

We also chat quite a lot of the time. His wife’s got a book that she sends with him, where she writes down what he’s done during the week, so it’s something to talk about from home, which I think is good.

So over time then, do you notice a progression?

Well there certainly has been with him, yes. When he first came he stood and watched for ages, but I’ve noticed we have another chap who comes along who has a similar problem, and they are now talking to each other, and a year ago they weren’t. So he’s more relaxed.

You say a year ago they weren’t talking to each other?

Not in the way they are now.

Is that the timescale you find is common for seeing progression?

No, everybody’s different you see, it’s very difficult to put a timing on anything, because every brain injury is different.

So from the clients’ point of view, what would you say are the main benefits of coming here?

I would think a lot of it is social, to start with anyway, because some of our clients are living alone, or they’ve got problems at home, and I think the social side is very important. I used to say to the manager here, ‘I haven’t done much today’ and she’d said, ‘Yes you have – social interaction’, and that’s just as important. Often if clients don’t feel like doing any activities, they still want to have chats, especially if they’ve no-one at home to chat to, and even if they’ve got a wife or a husband they’re probably out anyway, so they’re on their own all day.

Do you find you have to push the clients much to get them involved in doing things?

No, you can’t do that. You can’t make clients do things. It often comes from them, when they want to do something like reading or something like that. Then the volunteer organiser will approach me and say how about doing something with so-and-so, and I’ll say ‘yes, fine’ and we go from there.

There was one chap, he’d never painted. His wife was an artist, and he said, ‘Oh no, I just do the frames’ (because I think he was a joiner or carpenter). He’d never painted before and yet he did the most beautiful watercolours, which is one of the most difficult things to do, and I thought, if he hadn’t come to Headway, he’d never have done that.

Apart from the activities, do you think on the social side that confidence increases as people attend?

Yes, I think it does, as people get to know each other. There’s a chap who comes on a Tuesday, and I can remember his face when he came in, as if to say ‘What on earth am I doing here?’ So you find at first that some people have a hard time accepting it, but he soon settled in!

And what can you say to people to give them comfort and support in that situation?

It’s difficult. We talk, and I’ll say, ‘What happened to you?’ and ‘What did you do before?’ and things like that. And then I can say, ‘Well, you’ve done that, and nobody can take that away from you.’

What’s the most rewarding thing about being a volunteer at Headway?

I think making friends really. There are a lot of lovely people. Not everybody gets on with everybody else; that’s life. It is rewarding when you see improvements, like when a client says, ‘I can’t remember a thing I read last week’ and then she starts reading and she says ‘Oh yes, I DO remember this!’ and you think – well things are beginning to improve. There’s always something, or you make someone laugh, that sort of thing.

What sort of advice would you give to someone if they are thinking of becoming a volunteer at Headway Shropshire?

Well one thing I would say is – do it, and don’t come and go, because we’ve had people who have come and not stayed, which is difficult for the clients, because they really like continuity.

Also, one of the problems with aphasia, which a lot of brain-injured people have, is that if they’re around people who are talking like we are, by the time they’ve got it sorted in their heads, you’re onto the next thing! So it’s important to speak more slowly, leave pauses. You have to think about that.

And how do you see things developing here in the future?

Well, more money is always needed. But it’s really nice to see that the atmosphere in the building is positive and happy, and that’s something that has survived despite all the challenges and changes over the years.

Well, thanks Sally for your time and for a very detailed insight into Headway Shropshire “through the eyes of a volunteer”.

What We Offer

At Headway Shropshire, our volunteers enjoy the unique and fulfilling experience of working with brain-injured people. It’s a volunteering opportunity like no other.

If you want to give something back and contribute to our work with people who have acquired brain injuries, here are some of the things that you might become involved in as a volunteer:

• - Helping out with activities where we have a need, such as painting with client, assisting in the woodwork room, helping a client to cook a meal in our kitchen.
• - Playing board games or helping with reading.
• - Engaging our clients in conversation or spending time listening to someone.

We will never expect you to carry out tasks like first aid, personal care or moving & handling – our specialist staff is always on hand take care of those things.

What We Need From You

First of all, we can only accept adult volunteers over 18 years of age. Secondly, we can’t accept clients or their relatives as volunteers because, as you will understand, we need to protect the confidentiality of our other clients.

Secondly, our brain-injured clients need continuity. They need to know that you will be there for them on the same day each week. For our clients, many of whom live alone, our Rehabilitation Centre is a real lifeline. It hits them hard when a volunteer comes for a week or two and then leaves just when they’re getting to know each other. 

For these reasons, we always ask for a commitment that is fair to our clients:

- You’ll work at the Rehabilitation Centre from 10am until 3pm on an agreed day each week.
- You’ll commit to at least three months with us.