Newsletter
April 28 2020
In this issue: • • • • • • • • • • • •
Introduction Page 1 Headway SELNWK radio Page 2 Tell us how you’re coping Page 3 Volunteer Profile – Gavin Page 4 Word Game Page 7 Member Profile– Kennedy Page 8 Food for thought Page 9 Staff Profile - Sue Page10 Quick Puzzle Page 11 Recipe from Kim Page 11 Coronavirus Update Page 13 Social Media Page 15
Important contact info. Headway SELNWK contacts Community Organiser: 07817 951055 Main Office 020 30581013 Headway UK helpline@headway.org.uk 0808 800 2244 Health service emergency Dial 111 or email 111.nhs.uk Samaritans 116 123
Introduction… Until the coronavirus is over, we are aiming to produce a regular newsletter to help you stay connected with what’s happening in Headway SELNWK. Unfortunately, the last issue went to a lot of peoples’ junk mail. This may explain why we have had very little feedback. Please check your junk mail to see if you have received it on 10.04.20 and mark it as “not junk”. Future editions should then go straight to your inbox. You can call our Community Organiser Tricia on the number above to check we have you on our list. Our keyworkers will be sharing the newsletter over the phone for those who do not have access electronically. In the future, we hope to be able to post newsletters to those who need hard copy, please let Tricia, our Community Organiser know if you need a hard copy. We welcome any contributions to the content – recipes, activities you have done, suggested improvements to the letter. Please send any items to newsletter@headwayselnwk.co.uk If you do not want to receive it please email triciareilly@headwayselnwk.co.uk or tell your key worker Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
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Headway SELNWK radio update – Listen up! Listening figures remain buoyant for Headway SELNWK radio, the local community station for Headway members, staff, volunteers and tutors. Now in its fifth week of broadcasting, it is building up a growing fanbase. The latest figures show people tuning in not just from Dartford, Bexleyheath and Thamesmead but also further flung Headway groups in Bristol and Cambridgeshire. It’s even attracting listeners in Ireland, France, Spain and the USA! Liam at the mic The radio has a daily programme of music, interviews, quizzes and DJ banter. Liam is the man behind the mic and he’s now often joined by co-host Rich Staplehurst. “The most popular segment is the quizzes we run every morning from 10-11, “said Liam. “After that it’s the live interviews and then desert island discs.” Coming up Liam plans to add a daily afternoon quiz on specific topics like movies, tv, film and nature. And on Monday afternoons there’ll be a guest music presenter who’s going to broadcast his top four tracks from a variety of genres. Would you like to be on the radio? Want to host or co-host a show or tell your story? Got an idea for a show but don’t want to host it? We need your ideas and input especially from members and their families. Please contact us using the details below. You will be supported throughout by our team so there is absolutely nothing to fear. Maybe you’ve always wanted to be on radio – Now is your chance! It’s a great opportunity to do something different and keep busy whilst we are confined to our homes during this pandemic.
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 3 Listen Now To listen to the station type in http://www.hsradio.co.uk into your search bar or just click on the link at radio@headwayselnwk.co.uk Email us at radio@headwayselnwk.co.uk Call or text: 07817951123 Daily Programme Mon/Weds and Fri 9am-4pm 9 – 10 Communication time. Phone in with questions or topics that the Headway community may be able to help with. 10.10 – 11 It’s quiz time! 11.10 – 12.20 Desert Island discs 12.20 – 13.00
Lunchtime – background music
13.00 – 14.00
Special guest/live music
14.10 – 15.00
My Story
15.00 – 16.00 Music requests and chat
Tell us how you’re coping There may be a number of downsides to lockdown, but it also throws up some silver linings. For Reice this has been his discovery of yoga. “I can’t go to the gym now obviously,” said Reice who has one to one community support from Headway. “My mum suggested I download a yoga app to see if that would be a good substitute. I love it.” Reice combines his daily yoga session with a workout and has been surprised at some of the benefits, particularly with yoga. “It makes me feel less stressed and is really helping me with my mobility. I thought I’d done as much rehab as I could on my collarbone but it’s increasing the range in my collarbone. I feel so rested afterwards,” he said.
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 4 Meanwhile – It’s Jen’s twin grandchildren’s birthday this week so she has made them a card each as it’s difficult to buy them at the moment.
If you have examples of how you are spending your time, particularly if you are finding new things, then please send them to newsletter@headwayselnwk.co.uk – a picture is most welcome! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Volunteer Profile
A JOURNEY OF RECOVERY Gavin Jackson- member, volunteer and published poet and family talk openly about the road to rehabilitation. Everyone’s brain injury is unique – and their stories are too. Gavin Jackson’s is no different. The last few years have taken him from coma to Headway member and volunteer to published poet. In between he and his family have been on a journey that’s veered from grief and desperation to hope, rehabilitation and being ‘the absolute family unit’ they are today. This is Gavin and his family’s story. Gavin had a heart attack on the concourse Lorraine and Gavin of Liverpool Street station on a dash to see his father who was dying. He was given immediate resuscitation by the British Transport police and rushed to St Barts hospital. “I couldn’t take it in when the hospital called me to say he’d had Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 5 a cardiac event,” said his wife Lorraine who arrived at the hospital with son Liam to find Gavin on life support and not expected to live. Gavin also had a suspected hypoxic brain injury. He’d had 50 minutes of ‘downtime’ meaning his oxygen supply had been interrupted. Normally just four minutes of downtime will result in brain injury. The family refused to let the hospital take Gavin off life support. Their faith in him was well founded. They were ecstatic when one day they walked into ICU and Gavin was sitting up. “He couldn’t talk, and he didn’t recognise us but he was awake. He was smiling a lot but that he was because he was mimicking our expressions – we’ve since learnt that’s apparently very common for someone coming out of coma,” said Lorraine. “We didn’t realise how hard the road ahead would be.” “We were so happy to see him like this but we didn’t realise how hard the road ahead would be. We had to teach him everything. We weren’t prepared for the frustration that he would feel in the process. It was humour that got us through as that’s how our family works.” The positives though were in short supply. On the day of Gavin’s accident, his father died. A week later Lorraine’s father broke his hip and died six weeks later, due to complications. Three weeks after that Liam’s wife’s father died of a heart attack. The stresses were immense. As Gavin’s clinical psychologist said at the time “This doesn’t happen in real life.” It was unbelievable but not unbearable. For Lorraine, “There was too much going on to process everything so we had to focus on Gavin.” The turning point for Liam was when his Dad started going out with his friends – the ice cream shop was a favourite meet up – and his conversation skills started coming back. “There were good days and bad days. The bad days were usually characterised by fatigue,” he said. Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 6 Progress continued. In 2017 Gavin was invited to go for a trial session at Headway. “I really liked it. A great bunch of people,” he said. He became a fixture of the Wednesday group, taking over the role of quizmaster in the afternoons which proved to be one of the most popular (and spirited) activities in Headway’s weekly calendar. Two years on and Gavin is still doing quizzes as a volunteer (currently virtually on the Headway SELNWK radio). When his two-year funding ran out, Headway management suggested he apply to be a volunteer. “I’m part of the furniture now.” Gavin’s also a published poet thanks in part to Headway. “In the early days of coming to Headway keyworker Sue [London] set us a task to write some poetry and bring it in for the next week. I immediately started to tap away on my phone to get some words down. I then read them out to the group. From then on I took to writing odd lines of poetry often at night when I woke up and built it up from there,” he said. The result is a book of published poetry, ReBuilding the Mind, A Journey of Recovery with all profits going to Headway SELNWK. “There have been so many positives to Headway,” said Lorraine. “As well as the camaraderie we as a family have got so much from the carers support network. It’s been massive in helping us to cope with what has happened. Friends can be very supportive but they don’t ‘get it’. Headway does.” What to do next The Jackson family are huge Headway SELNWK supporters. Gavin is a volunteer, Lorraine is a trustee and son Liam is the man behind the mic on Headway SELNWK’s new radio station. You can find Gavin, Lorraine and Liam talking about their story in the radio archives. Just click on the three bars on the top right hand corner and go to My Story. There are other stories there too from Headway members including Menay Edwards, Tony and Olive De Marzo and Linda Day. You can purchase Gavin’s book Rebuilding the Mind, A Journey of Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 7 Recovery through Poetry from Amazon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Game Try and find as many words of 3 letters or more using the letters of the following word – each letter of the word can only be used once in each word. (e.g. words from PEOPLE could include peep, pope, lope). The word this week is BENEVOLENT. Email your list to newsletter@headwayselnwk.co.uk by 10 May and we will publish who found the most words and who found the longest word
Results from last issue. Congratulations to Chandip who won both the number of words (18) and the longest word Pinata. For those, like me, who don’t know what a pinata is – the definition is a container often made of papier-mache, pottery or cloth which is decorated and filled with small treats. Its broken as part of a celebration
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Member Profile - Kennedy
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LIFE UNDER LOCKDOWN
Deptford’s Kennedy talks about what it means to be ‘very vulnerable’ Kennedy is a well-known face at Headway’s drop-in centre in Deptford which meets every Thursday (when not in lockdown and social distancing) and is coordinated by keyworker Sue London. Always one for a kind word or a responsive insight into whatever topic the group might be discussing, Kennedy is the group’s rock. Now in lockdown he’s keeping open the channels of communication on the group’s What’s App group, working to keep everyone up to date and less isolated. Sue describes him as her ‘go-to man’. However, Kennedy himself is classed as an extremely vulnerable person so his lockdown is more punishing than most. He’s had an organ transplant, so he comes in the category of those most at risk for Covid19. This means he always has to stay at home (shielded) and have food and medicine delivered and left outside the door. “It’s boring,” he freely admits. “I can’t go the gym or to Headway. When I look out of the window there are fewer and fewer people walking by. I’ve got a garden, but the steps are too steep for me to get down, so I’m stuck indoors. “ Kennedy has been listening to Headway SELNWK radio but finds it difficult to focus on one thing. “I’ll listen to the radio, then the television, then log on to the internet,” he said. “The news can be overwhelming.” Kennedy has had a kidney transplant which is why he is classed as vulnerable. Back in 2005 he suffered kidney failure and for the next six years was on dialysis - a procedure to recover waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly. It often involves diverting blood to a machine to be cleaned.
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
Page | 9 “One day in class my hand started to hurt then it began to swell” Kennedy’s brother stepped in and gave him one of his kidneys. Following the transplant Kennedy felt so much better he went back to Uni to study law. “One day in class my hand started to hurt then it began to swell,” he said. “It was on the site where needles had originally been placed for my dialysis.” The doctor confirmed it was a thrombosis, a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood, and gave Kennedy an injection to remove the clot. Unfortunately, his arm remained swollen and successive attempts to thin his blood with warfarin, a common treatment for to treat blood clots, resulted in a bleed on the brain followed by a stroke in 2013. “I was in hospital for six months first at Kings College Hospital and then at Lewisham,” Kennedy recalled. When he was discharged, he returned home to find it had been vandalised. “Everything was gone.” His family rallied round and the year after his stroke in 2014 Kennedy started going to Headway. “I always look forward to going there. There are people there like me. We can talk to each other and we look after each like family.” Though Kennedy currently lives alone he does have plenty of contact with his family. He has four adult children – two of whom live in Ghana and two in the UK. What is he most looking forward to when lockdown is over? Meeting my family and friends and having them all come round,” he said with conviction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Food for thought
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 10 Staff Profile - Sue Coffee or Tea? We'll be asking someone every week to answer the same questions, but the answers might surprise you! This week it is comms guru and keyworker Sue in the chair. Tea or Coffee? Defo coffee, I regularly indulge in a rich Italian hmmmmm.
Sue in celebration mode
Cats or Dogs? Dogs 100%, in fact I have grand dogs who are the best. I really like the bull breeds. I couldn't have a collie because I don't want a dog with a higher IQ than me. Fish & Chips or Roast Dinner? Hard call but a roast wins, with lashings of mint sauce no matter what the meat. XBox or Xmen? X men. Love a good jaunty romp through fantasy sci fi especially if supported by a stellar cast. Shopping or Sport? Shopping obviously. You don't get a body like mine by participating in any form of physical activity. Iphone or Android? Android, like all sensible people. Early Bird or Night Owl? Hmm, this is difficult as it depends on the day of the week but I do like waking up every day so early bird.
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 11 Springsteen or Beyonce? After a lot of thought I have plumped for ..... Springsteen because he rose organically rather than being manufactured and Streets of Philadelphia, classic. Soz Bey. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Quick Puzzle for you – Step Ladder Change Tent to Dome in seven steps changing just one letter at a time and without changing the order of the other letters. Clues are given to each step (on the next page). TENT
Clue What you pay a landlord Go on and on when cross Place in an organisation Limp and floppy (particularly of hair) Country road Solitary Completed
DOME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recipe – Chicken and Mushroom Pie
Thankyou to Kim, one of our members, for sending us this recipe
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 12 Recipe: Serves 2 – 4 Ingredients: 2 ½ 1 1
Chicken Breasts Red Onion Mushrooms – as many as you like Pinch dried herbs Chicken stock pot Chicken stock cube (e.g. Oxo) Gravy granules Ready rolled puff pastry
Method 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Cut chicken breasts into small bitesize pieces Fry in frying pan with a little butter, the dried herbs, seasoning and oxo cube Empty chicken into an oven proof pie dish Cut red onion finely and chop mushrooms. Fry in the same pan as you did the chicken. Add to the chicken Make gravy with granules in the same pan, then add the stock pot. When all dissolved add to pie dish Roll out pastry to 1 inch bigger than your pie dish cover Place on top of pie dish and trim excess pastry Brush with either beaten egg or milk and bake in fan oven at 180⁰C for about 25-30 mins or till golden brown Serve and enjoy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call for more recipes: We hope to include a recipe each edition so please send your favourite recipe to newsletter@headwayselnwk.co.uk Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 13
Corona Virus Update:
Just a reminder that lock down has been extended to at least May 7th. Below is a graphic explaining what you should do to keep yourself and others safe.
Important COVID 19 contact numbers by borough Bexley
0203 045 5398
Webpage
0208 313 4484
Webpage
Bromley
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 14 Important COVID 19 contact numbers by borough Kent County Council
0300 041 9292 Greenwich
Webpage
0800 470 4831
Webpage
0207 926 2999 Lewisham
Webpage
0208 314 3535 Southwark
Webpage
0207 525 5000
Webpage
Lambeth
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Your ideas count Please tell us what you think of this newsletter – any suggestions for improvement? News you would like to share (especially if positive)? -email newsletter@headwayselnwk.co.uk Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
P a g e | 15 Our Social Media Facebook:Headway South East London North West Kent Twitter:@SELNWKHeadway We are looking for Volunteers to help us to connect with our members and their families through a variety of social media. Please do get in connect with our Community Organiser Tricia using the details on the front page if you would like to get involved and help connect our community remotely.
This newsletter has been created by: Jen Gillard, Volunteer Sally Miller, Volunteer
Headway South East London & North West Kent Ltd Registered Charity No. 1084323 Affiliated to: Headway The Brain Injury Association 190 Bagnall Road, Old Basford, Nottingham NG6 8SF
