Action for Brain Injury Week - Tuesday

Please share this story and help us raise awareness of brain injury amongst children.  A brain injury can be hidden and often leads to difficulties at school.  Teachers and learning support staff attending our training days can learn strategies to help a brain injured child achieve their full potential.  

Today we’re sharing Melissa’s story as told by her mum Barbara…

Melissa with her artwork from our youth group's graffiti workshop.

“Two years ago my world was turned upside down, when my daughter Melissa, age 8, was knocked down coming home from school.  Melissa was in a coma, she suffered 5 bleeds on the brain which led to a brain injury.

We were told to say our goodbyes that day, there was little hope.  But our little princess was a fighter.  She came out of her coma and all we could do was wait and see if she would fully recover.  Anybody that knows Melissa is well aware that she likes to talk.  I just could not imagine how she would be not being able to chat.  Very quickly she began to walk, talk, feed herself.  It was like a miracle.  We were getting our little girl back.”

When she was discharged from hospital, the Child Brain injury Trust became involved, giving support to Melissa and the family, "We did not acknowledge the support at the beginning as we believed Melissa was fine and we would just get on with it all. 

Gradually, issues started to arise at school and Melissa was becoming so unhappy and lonely.  This broke my heart. She was aware that she was different from before the accident.  This was the stage that we realised we needed help and support.

"The Child Brain Injury Trust has helped us and the school to recognise Melissa’s needs.  Their specialist staff go into schools and train the teachers and work with other children to give them a better understanding.  They also have awareness days for professionals and will be involved with Melissa all through school.

The staff at the Child Brain Injury Trust have been a valuable support and continue to be.  Melissa had also gone through early puberty as a result of the brain injury and the charity supported us to support her with this in a child-friendly way.  We have now accepted that we will not know the final outcome until she is 21.”

If you would like support, please call our helpline on 0303 303 2248. 
For more information on childhood brain injury, visit our website.
If you’d like to get involved with supporting our work, please email Emily Honey.

Action for Brain Injury Week - Monday

Our main aim during Action for Brain Injury Week is to raise awareness of childhood acquired brain injury.  Many people are unaware that an accident or illness during childhood can go on to have long lasting consequences as it affects a child’s brain development.  Many families who are struggling with these consequences are unaware that the Child Brain Injury Trust is here to help.  Please share our stories this week – help us reach them, and help us continue to support them.  Take action!

Today we're sharing Laurie McGinley's story...

While getting ready for school one morning at the age of nine, Laurie suffered an intense fit.  He was rushed to hospital and found to be suffering from viral encephalitis.

Laurie had to undergo emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain and went through weeks of hospital care. After his initial recovery, he then required months of mental and physical rehabilitation as well.  Laurie had been left with mild cerebral palsy – and little self-confidence.

Maggie, Laurie’s Mum, found out about the Child Brain Injury Trust and got in touch to see if we could help.  As he really enjoyed playing football, our Child and Family Support Coordinator Mary introduced him to the Scottish Football Association’s disability squad. He never looked back!

He won a place in the Scotland Cerebral Palsy Football Team, representing his country in dozens of games and being crowned Scotland’s top goalscorer at the Cerebral Palsy World Cup in 2011.  Laurie is a defender in the team, currently rated fifth in the world and fourth in Europe. 

He has also gained a degree in sports and active lifestyle promotion at Glasgow Caledonian University, graduating in 2012, and gives up a lot of his spare time to coach football to youngsters at a number of local clubs.  This summer Laurie plans to travel to the United States to advance his coaching skills so he can teach pro-youth teams.

During Action for Brain Injury Week Laurie, with the help of his colleagues, has arranged a fundraising day at the St Leonards Tesco store in East Kilbride where he works part-time.  On Saturday 18th May there will be bag packing, a tombola and a raffle with some great prizes from top Scottish football clubs. Laurie told us, “Raising cash for the Child Brain Injury Trust is my way of giving something back.”  Sounds like it’s going to be a great day! 

If you would like support or more information, contact our helpline on 0303 303 2248 or helpline@cbituk.org.
If you'd like to get involved in taking Action or supporting our work, please email Emily Honey.

Virgin London Marathon 2013

Ian Brennan with his medal at the finish

Like many, every year I like to get up early to watch the London Marathon on television. This year I was even more excited; I got up early to see if I could spot our two runners for the Child Brain Injury Trust. The male runners set off at about 10.00am and unfortunately my eye site wasn't good enough to pick out Alex Radford and Ian Brennan from the the 30,000+ runners also setting off.

People travel from all over the world to take part in this iconic race and our runners were no different. Ian Brennan travelled over from Northern Ireland and managed to complete the race in 4 hour and 4 minutes; whereas Alex Radford came all the way from Spain to join us on race day; completing the marathon in 4 hours and 28 minutes.

We thank both of the runners for their support, and congratulate Alex Radford for raising over £5,000. Alex chose to take part in the London Marathon to celebrate his 40th birthday. He said: "I have never run a Marathon before and I am absolutely terrified and delighted at the prospect of participating in the race and raising funds [for the Child Brain Injury Trust]."

Alex Radford raised over £5,000

Alex is still fundraising for the Child Brain Injury Trust; if you would like to show your support simply go to www.justgiving.com/LondonMarathon-Alex and make a donation.

We would like to extend our appreciation to all the runners who took part this year; without them this would not be the event it is. One can only imagine the dedication and passion you need to run a marathon, so a huge well done to everyone.

We would like to give specials thanks to Alex Radford, Irwin Mitchell and Ian Brennan for their support and hope they enjoyed the experience!

If you are interested in running in aid of the Child Brain Injury Trust, check out our website to see what we can offer or contact emilyhoney@cbituk.org to discuss further.


Posted by Emily Honey, Fundraising Assistant.

When the Bough Breaks - Annual Conference 2013

A huge thank you to all who attended our Annual Conference. 

One week ago we opened our annual conference at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole with a presentation from our parent speaker Mary Taylor White. This set the high standard of the rest of the day. Mary shared her own experiences with the different professionals and families who attended from across the country. We would like to take this moment to thank everyone who helped make this day a success. 

Mary Taylor White - Parent Speaker

This year's annual conference focused on the moment when the 'bough breaks'. We had a variety of speakers throughout the day who looked at different social areas that become impacted following an acquired brain injury. 

For those who were unable to attend we had our first live twitter feed available. This is still available to view by simply following #cbitconference. We had great fun tweeting on the day and look forward to more taking part next year. 

Among the speakers were Judith Middleton our ex-chair of trustees; Judith focused on the changes to the family unit following a brain injury, and the different social structures families can form as a result. Judith Middleton is a retired Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychologist. 

We have so many thanks to make and would like to express our appreciation to all our speakers who were very well presented and informative on a number of topics. Our new trustee Katie Byard delivered a useful presentation on the importance of family in the brain injury rehabilitation.

However, this year the presentations were not restricted to the conference room. We also had a poster display available for delegates and exhibitors to browse during the breaks.

Child Brain Injury Trust Youth Zone Exhibition

The annual conference also welcomed Beverley Turner to speak about her own experiences of living with her husband James Cracknell OBE, following his brain injury. Her presentation entitled 'Who's Moved my Keys' was a wonderful look into the everyday struggles families face following a brain injury. 

The day was rounded off with a presentation from Lee Ryan of Frenkel Topping on the current welfare benefits. A very fitting topic following the recent changes that have now come into place. 

A special thank you goes out to our sponsors; Ashton KCJ, Anthony Collins, Irwin Mitchell and Towry. 

If you would like to explore the presentations in more detail, please go to our website.

Once again thank you to everyone who attended and we look forward to seeing you next year! 

Photography by Simon Hadley

Written by Emily Honey, Fundraising Assistant  

Annual Impact Report

Read all about it! 

Our Annual Impact Report is now available to read online.  It includes a look back at the development and achievements of the Child Brain Injury Trust over the last financial year, including the last ever Chairman's Report from Judith Middleton, who says:

"Our long term strategy is to bring support to more children and families, to inform more professionals who work with these children, whether in health, education, social services or within the youth justice system, of the effects of acquired brain injury, and to influence the Government to ensure that appropriate help and support is available where needed."

You can read our report below. 

Child Brain Injury Trust Annual Impact Report April 2011 - March 2012 by Fundraising Team

Have you booked your place for our 2013 Annual Conference yet?

Annual Conference – Weds 27th March 2013, Hilton Birmingham Metropole

When the Bough Breaks

As the title suggests – when families are faced with a child’s brain injury they often describe it as if ‘part of their family has broken’. This means that they need to cope in new ways to understand what has happened and to ensure that the family moves forward as positively as possible. 

Our 2013 conference is your opportunity to learn about the issues that families face on a day to day basis following childhood acquired brain injury. The event will showcase findings from new evidence-based research, expert practitioners and the real life experiences of families living with the consequences of childhood acquired brain injury.

This conference aims to raise awareness of the issues families face when a child’s brain is injured.  It aims to showcase academic research, successful interventions and highlight how professionals can embrace the subject matter positively in their day to day work. 

Confirmed speakers so far include:

• Dr Peter Tucker - Clinical Psychologist and Chartered Psychologist 
• Dr Judith Middleton - Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychologist 
• Lee Ryan – Benefits Caseworker
• Parents - affected by childhood acquired brain injury 
• Dr Carol Hawley - Principle Research Fellow 
• Dr Katie Byard - Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychologist 
• Dr Anita Rose - Consultant Neuropsychologist 

Delegate Fees:

• Early Bird (book before 31/01/2013) Standard delegate place – £170
• Standard delegate place – £190
• Early Bird (book before 31/01/2013) Voluntary and Public Sector place – £140
• Voluntary and Public Sector – £160
• Legal Directory Member – £170
• Parent place - £10

To book your place and to see the full brochure for this event, please visit http://www.childbraininjurytrust.org.uk/services_cands.html

We look forward to seeing you in March!

Best wishes,
The Child Brain Injury Trust

This event is kindly supported by Anthony Collins Solicitors, Ashton KCJ Solicitors, Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and Towry.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Festive fun for everyone!

Santa and Mrs Claus took time out of their busy schedule to bring toys to the boys and girls supported by our project in Northern Ireland at a recent family day out.  A cracking time was had by all at this well loved event, made possible by the Abby Harding Foundation.


Scottish project team Claire, Mary and Beth with Dani Greer
of Digby Brown and her goody bag delivering helpers!

Meanwhile, the Scottish project team were able to take 160 people along to watch Cinderella at the Lyceum theatre, Edinburgh!  A modern reimagining of the traditional tale, everyone enjoyed the songs, the ugly sisters and the goody bags supplied by Digby Brown solicitors who also sponsored the event.  

We're definitely starting to feel festive!



Posted by Claire, Regional Fundraising Officer (Scotland)

Louise Wilkinson Wins Prestigious UKABIF Award 2012 For Inspiration

This year’s UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) Award for Inspiration was presented to Louise Wilkinson, Training Manager at the Oxfordshire-based Child Brain Injury Trust.   The Award was presented at the 4th UKABIF Annual Conference 2012 which took place this month in Birmingham.

Louise won the Award because of her awareness raising work on behalf of young offenders affected by Acquired Brain Injury, which also includes setting up the Criminal Justice and Acquired Brain Injury Interest Group (CJABIIG).  The CJABIIG was established in January 2011 as a consortium of representative groups spanning public, private and third sector organisations.

Introducing the Award, Professor Michael Barnes, UKABIF Chair said: “Despite her day job at the Child Brain Injury Trust, Louise has been inspirational through her efforts, determination and dedication to running workshops for youth justice professionals to raise awareness of the significant number of children and young people in the youth justice system with an undiagnosed Acquired Brain Injury.  This also planted the seed for what was to become the CJABIIG, with Louise being not only one of the founding members, but providing the secretariat, chairing the meetings and organising the CJABIIGs first conference”.

The Stephen McAleese Award for Inspiration is for an individual in the field of ABI and was presented by John and Susan McAleese.  

Commenting on the Award, Louise said: “I’m very pleased to have received this Award.  The CJABIIG has matured to be a powerful lobby group, driving forward the issue of Acquired Brain Injury and offending across Government.  Recently we’ve managed to procure the services of Lord Ramsbotham as the new Chair of the CJABIIG which further strengthens our influence and reach within Government – the works goes on”.

Press Release Submitted by UKABIF 

Road Safety Week

Be seen, be safe!

Monday 19th November marks the start of Road Safety Week.  Sadly, a number of children we support sustained their brain injury as a result of a road traffic accident.  Children such as Melissa, who was knocked down on her way home from school at the age of 8.  Melissa's mum Barbara said it turned her world upside down, "Melissa was in a coma, she suffered 5 bleeds on the brain and suffered a brain injury.  We were told to say our goodbyes that day, there was little hope."

Thankfully, Melissa came round from her coma and made a very promising recovery, "very quickly she began to walk, talk, feed herself. It was like a miracle. We were getting our little girl back." Barbara adds, "Melissa is now 11 years old and continues to amaze us every day with her achievements."



Barbara, Melissa, Konar and Andy collecting their
'Inspirational Family' award from Digby Brown's
Kathleen McMonagle at our recent lunch

It hasn't been plain sailing to achieve this progress, with some difficulties at school and the issue of premature puberty to deal with in a sensitive, child-friendly fashion.  The Child Brain Injury Trust has been there to support the whole family over the years, helping them and Melissa's teachers to better understand brain injury. 

"Child Brain Injury Trust have been a valuable support and continue to be. They helped us and the school recognise her needs. They go into schools and train the teachers and worked with Melissa’s peers to give them a better understanding. They also have awareness days for professionals. They will be involved with Melissa all through school."



Wearing bright or fluorescent clothes during the day, and reflective
materials in the dark can all help.  The Child Brain Injury Trust's
project in Scotland has a number of reflective 'slapwraps'
to hand out to pupils during their talks in schools.

There are a number of things we can all do to help keep children safer on the roads: adhere to speed limits when driving; be aware of cyclists and give them plenty of room; help our children learn to stop, look and listen; make sure children are as visible as possible - especially as the winter days and nights draw in.

We have some fabby bike helmets for sale that have LED lighting the whole way around them.  Click here for more info.  A portion of the sales of these helmets will also go to funding our work.

Posted by Claire, Regional Fundraising Officer (Scotland)
 









Scottish Awards Lunch

Celebrating those who make our work in Scotland possible and so rewarding

Our Scottish project was able to officially recognise the support and inspiration we receive from those we work with at our 21st birthday celebration and awards ceremony on 19th October.  Held at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens, and made possible due to the support of Digby Brown Solicitors, it was a wonderful day, enjoyed by all.



Jacqueline McPherson (Specialist Paediatric Neurology Nurse at Royal Hospital for Sick
Children, Edinburgh), received the Impact Award in recognition of her close work with the
Scottish project over the years. Awarded by Robert Swanney, Senior Partner at Digby Brown Solicitors.

The Shearer family with Kathleen McMonagle of Digby Brown.
Deserving winners of the Inspirational Family Award.



Lauchlan Dougall and family, winner of Supporter of the Year Award.
Lauchlan raised over £2500 for the charity this year; a truly inspirational young man.

The awards were hand carved by Ike Curran especially for the occasion. More info on Ike's work can be found here: http://www.wheelchairwoodturners.org.uk/index.htm

Added by Claire, Regional Fundraising Officer (Scotland)