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We are really proud to spotlight this fantastic piece of art by client, Sheena. Pieces like this truly reflect the importance of art and creativity in wellbeing, expression and personal achievement.  Loving our clients’ collage session last week focusing on positivity and moving forwards, no matter how small the steps or how fast the pace. Working together to turn challenges into chances. Confidence looks good on everyone.  We are back for a brand new year and feeling excited about what’s to come our way! While the festivities have been great fun, it’s been equally lovely to start hunkering back down into routine again. We’ve been thinking about all the things in life that spark gratitude in us, and what better way of expressing that than by sharing this fabulous poem, written by Headway clients with the wonderful Naomi Black of Growing Nai, who’s been working with us and facilitating some brilliant creative writing sessions! While this was created at Christmas time, the message rings true all year round.  What a brilliant afternoon enjoying our FIRST EVER pantomime together!
Brain injury doesn’t always make accessing the theatre easy - or even possible. So we arranged for the Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company to come to US instead! A fabulous performance of Sinbad the Sailor, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone and plenty of singing, laughter and interaction to boost festive spirit! This is exactly the kind of thing your kind donations and fundraising are spent on - ensuring brain injury survivors can access as many enriching and positive opportunities as possible. What a fabulous day we had at our annual Festive Coffee Morning, a HEN RECORD BREAKING £700 was raised! We had many wonderful raffle donations from supporters and local businesses which were greatly appreciated. HUGE THANKS to those that attended the event and our fantastic squad of volunteers who made the morning run as smoothly as possible. What a wonderful way to start the Festive Season!  We are absolutely delighted to share that Headway East Northants are the very proud winners of the Northamptonshire Community Foundation Healthy & Happy Communities award! Sincere thanks to NCF for selecting us along along such worthy fellow nominees, and for hosting such a wonderful awards ceremony at Northampton's Royal Theatre.  We’re delighted to be involved with the community garden owned by our friends at Morrisons/Myton Food Group. We’ve had a productive and enjoyable few sessions getting all the woodwork shipshape for summer and getting some beautiful plants and flowers established to blossom over the course of the season. A great chance to get outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine, encourage mindfulness and mental clarity and support the environment!  We’ve had a lovely morning outing to Keysoe International, meeting, greeting and grooming the gorgeous mini ponies, Mouse and Winston! Huge thanks to Elaine and the staff team who were so welcoming and informative; we learnt so much about these beautiful animals today. The deep emotional connection between horses and humans, and how they read our moods and facial cues, is often talked of. A special morning that we look forward to repeating very soon!  We would like to give notice of our AGM (for the year ended 2024), to be held on Friday 5th September at 2.30pm. Please get in touch to confirm attendance. 
Fantastic woodworking by client Chris who’s designed and created this beautiful bird box from scratch. Big thanks to volunteer Dave for his support with Chris’s project!  A massive WELL DONE to client Scott, who had an epic bowling session, scoring a turkey and hitting the top spot on the entire day’s leader board at the bowling alley, with a phenomenal score of 179!!!!! Go, Scott, you smashed it!  Shout out to client and stroke survivor, Graham who’s spent the morning making this glorious cottage pie from scratch. We wish we could find a way to post and share the amazing smell coming from the HEN kitchen! Another great example of the kind of specialist support we offer here - relearning lost skills and taking on board new ones, and supporting to live the most independent and enriched life possible after brain injury. Thanks to faciliator Ann, for her support in this session!  We were delighted to welcome back Sophie Garner, a singing and songwriting therapist specialising in music for acquired brain injury. Singing therapy can offer significant benefits for the brain, including improved mood, reduced stress, enhanced memory and increased social interaction. Another wonderful session thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!
Huge thanks to Marianne of Patchwork Training (and of course the gorgeous Nutmeg and Merri), who hosted a morning session for our clients! Marianne, an experienced dog trainer and fully qualified Kennel Club Agility Judge, shared so much interesting knowledge with us about dog behaviours and the specialist agility, obedience and scent work training techniques she uses to get the very best out of the dogs she supports. We are so grateful for Marianne’s time - a terrific opportunity for our clients to interact with the dogs and learn more about them through questions, observations and discussions. 
We are extremely fortunate here at HEN to have a wonderful outside space for our clients to enjoy the glorious weather. Clients fostered critical cognitive skills by playing a game of Scattergories in the shaded area of the garden, followed by enjoying some refreshing ice lollies. Client Sheena was on hand to ensure that the beautiful flowers were tended to and kept well hydrated. A perfect summer’s day!  HEN Manager Jonny Tudor was delighted to meet members of the Waendel Walkers Club to accept a donation of £400! A BIG thank you all the Waendel Walkers Club members involved for their generous donation. The funds raised will be used to purchase resources for our clients including cognitive puzzles and games as well as supplementing our music provision.  We would like to give notice of our AGM (for the year ended 2023), to be held on Friday 30th August 2024 at 2.30pm. If you would like more information, please get in touch.  What a pleasure to welcome local musician, composer, writer and wildlife recorder, Nick Penny, to our centre. Nick kindly donated his time to give a talk and demonstration of some fabulous music instruments, including a harp and a handpan, skilfully playing them for our clients to enjoy alongside a subtle soundtrack of locally-recorded birdsong. Such an engaging, interesting and relaxing session for our clients, boosting not only cognition but mindfulness and wellbeing too. Something truly different for everyone to enjoy.  We are SO proud of client Louise, who has come third in a NATIONWIDE poetry competition! Organised by Headway UK for Carer’s Week, Louise’s acrostic poem about her support worker was described as: “A cleverly coordinated use of words that highlight the warmth, appreciation and thanks to her carer, enabling her life to be fulfilled. The impactful message evokes those feelings and gives a glimpse into the world of a close client/carer relationship”. Congratulations to Louise from us all! What an inspiration - creativity is for everyone!  Do you want to make a difference but not sure how? Running the London Marathon raises vitally important funds for Headway East Northants so we are able to support adults with acquired brain injury within our community. We support our runners through every stage of their marathon journey, from initial sign up to cheering them on the streets of London in April. Become part of Team HEN 2025 by emailing [email protected]  A fun evening was had at our recent fundraising Quiz & Nibbles Night in Thrapston, a big THANK YOU to those that supported this event, you raised an AMAZING £800!  A huge WELL DONE to our 31 Team HEN runners who took on the iconic London Marathon to raise funds for Headway East Northants! The commitment to training and fundraising has been incredible and everyone at HEN is extremely grateful that you chose our charity to support. All funds raised will enable our charity to support those living with an acquired brain injury within our community.  We were delighted to welcome Lucia's Tiny Farm to the centre, giving clients the opportunity to handle, groom and learn about a variety of gorgeous small animals including rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, a bearded dragon, chickens, tortoises and Coco the Cavapoo!  Seated Pilates sessions run by Karen Watson of Powerhouse Pilates are a huge hit with our clients. Pilates focuses on improving muscle strength, flexibility, balance, breathing and posture. Our clients respond so well, and even comment on not only the physical benefits they feel afterwards, but the positive mental benefits too, using the brain to focus and channel mindfulness. Physical light impact exercise is something we are constantly working to focus on at HEN, thank you to Karen for kindly donating her time and expertise to provide these beneficial sessions. 
Client Martin was keen to learn some basic I.T skills. Thanks to facilitator Sue for her 1-1 support, and client Scott for sharing his own skills with Martin during this great session. Our centre is ‘client-led’, and many of our activities and facilities are inspired by our clients’ preferences and suggestions. We aim to cater for all tastes, interests and abilities, and will always focus on what CAN be done, rather than what can’t.
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