Brain injury service closure 'huge blow' for area

Stacey Parry said the service was a "lifeline" to those who used it

A woman with encephalitis said the closure of a "lifeline" brain injury charity will leave a "hole" in support.

For the past year, Stacey Parry, from Swaffham, has spent one day a week at a Headway Norfolk and Waveney support group after she contracted the condition, which sees the brain swell.

She was diagnosed after having flu-like symptoms and spent three months in hospital on a stroke ward.

Headway Norfolk and Waveney announced on Wednesday that it would be closing its services at the end of November due to significant financial difficulties.

Ms Parry said: "There will be a hole there. No one will get any help, and there's a lot of people who need that help and can't get it."

Two years ago, Ms Parry was in hospital after flu-like symptoms led to encephalitis, which at the time left her in a coma, paralysed on one side of her body and unable to speak.

She said: "It was very tough for me and my family.

"I get carers twice a day and 20 hours of personal assistance. I go to Headway every week on a Wednesday, and they help me so much.

"We do activities to make your brain work, and they help me with other stuff like things to do in daily life, and they help me with finances and advice, and they really help you have a normal life."

She said the support helped her socially, and the group was like "one big family".

She said: "Me and other service users depend on that service and it is really going to make an impact on our lives and turn us back another 360 [degrees]."

"It's a lifeline to us," she added.

Alison Kingstone-Miles said the Headway group has given Stacey confidence and help to do things for herself

Since she has been attending the service, her personal assistant (PA), Alison Kingstone-Miles, said she had noticed a "marked improvement".

She said: "They have given her that confidence and help to do things for herself and get her back here to live independently with the help of PAs and carers, but really Headway seemed to be the root cause of her independence."

Ms Kingstone-Miles said the loss of the service would be a "huge blow" for the county.

"We will have to rejig what we do and spread ourselves thinner so she won't get that quality she needs... Headway gave her that quality of independence," she said.

"Stacey didn't ask to have this illness."

Luke Griggs, chief executive of Headway UK, said charities were struggling due to rising costs and people not having spare money to make donations.

"Headway is crucial to giving people that support and engagement to rebuild those skills," he said.

"When you have a rural county like Norfolk, it makes those costs a little bit higher in terms of getting out to see people."

He said the UK charity is working with Norfolk County Council to find a way forward and direct people to other services. However, he made clear it was not the council that had affected its funding.

"My heart goes out to not only the staff and volunteers who are passionate about what they do, but mainly to the brain survivors and carers and families who do rely on the support and for many of them it is a lifeline," he added.