HEADWAY Jersey is the Island’s only charity that offers rehabilitation services for those brain injury face to face.
These injuries could vary from a stroke, aneurysm, be the result of a road accident or a tumour, with 40 Islanders welcomed in to the charity’s Day Centre each week.
Headway Jersey’s marketing and fundraising manager Nikolett Jones and ambassador Sue Sharkey discussed the vital work the charity provides for those in need.
What services are offered at the centre?
From Monday to Wednesday, the Day Centre provides its members with entertainment, food and rehabilitation. Members can choose from a range of activities from the more gentle painting and sewing classes to swimming at AquaSplash and fitness sessions at Springfield.
Lunch is donated by the team at Springfield Cafe, who come across the road with a box of food each day, while, importantly, a service dubbed ‘the Headway bus’ is on hand to shuttle visitors from their home to the centre and back to ensure they can access the service.
Nikolett said: “We have two buses. Most of our members are non-mobile, which means they don’t feel confident to leave their home. They can’t remember how to get here or they can’t remember how to get back home.
“So they would be extremely isolated. There would be no accessibility, no equality, no access to free rehabilitation at all, if it wasn’t for us.”
Nikolett, who is originally from Hungary, said she could not work a job which didn’t allow her to help people.
Her passion is caring and advocacy, and she added that the charity’s goal for 2026 is to reach and support as many people as possible. She said: “We love making them happy and helping them feel a part of something again, because once they’ve got a brain injury, their life just explodes, and they have no idea where they belong.”
Sue has worked at Headway Jersey for nine years after her husband who unfortunately suffered a traumatic brain injury 15 years ago and was supported in his recovery by the charity.
“My husband… you’d look at him and you wouldn’t think that he has a brain injury, because it’s not visible. So no one would know what he goes through,” Sue said.
“He had to learn how to walk, talk, and do everything again. So, Headway were a huge impact for Paul. He used to come weekly for art, socialising, and just to try and bring him back to himself and get to know the new him. Because obviously he wasn’t the same.”
She added that her husband learned to sew through the Headway Day Centre, and grew so fond of it that they bought a sewing machine for at home.
Social Stigma
A common struggle for many with disabilities and injuries, is the social stigma which remains. Lots of people suffering may feel too anxious or embarrassed to seek support, despite it being available and encouraged.
Sue explained that when her husband first suffered his brain injury, he was also anxious about attending any support.
She said: “Paul initially wouldn’t go out in the van because it had ‘Headway brain injury’ on the side. He just couldn’t put it in his head that he had a brain injury, he wouldn’t accept it.
“So it took months and months… eventually he got in and got over it. But it is that stigma of getting anxious and worrying what people would think.”
Rehabilitation
Alongside a plethora of available activities, the charity offer various methods for people to get back on their feet after an injury.
Neuro-physiotherapy is an option, guided by a fully qualified physiotherapist. They focus largely on regaining movement and strength, alongside re-learning fine motor skills which may have been lost.
Speech and Language support is also available for members struggling vocally or unable to speak after an injury. This includes the use of iPads, printed cards and various apps, to help non-verbal or partially non-verbal members attempt to regain speech.
Nikolett said: “We need everyone to know about Headway. If anything happens to someone’s family member, friend or neighbour, people know we are here and ready to support them.”
And the popular art therapy sessions sees members participating in activities such as crocheting and painting to help rekindle cognitive and motor skills, with much of the artwork created displayed around the centre.
Physical activities offered including chair yoga and chair boxing help to adapt physical health and strength.
Bus Service
Headway have two busses, which are used frequently to take members to and from the centre. Nikolett explained that funding this bus each year can cost thousands of pounds to the charity, but it is a vital service that can not be removed. It is often referred to as a ‘lifeline’.
Nikolett added: “So our bus goes to their home one by one and picks them up. Brings them here. They can have their social rehabilitation, their social interaction. We give them lunch, cups of tea, biscuits… Once they have had their interactions, they get back into the bus and we take them back home.”
Their recent soup kitchen, on November 19, was organised with the intention of using the funds raised for the bus service.
Running a charity in 2025
Nikolett and Sue explained that in the recent years, getting corporate sponsorship is becoming increasingly difficult which stretches the charity’s limited resources.
“We are experiencing huge challenges getting through to companies. Companies now like to sign contracts for three years. So that means if you miss out, then you are written off for three years. But then how you going to secure the funds you need for the next three years? So it’s really challenging.
“The whole culture about giving and how the local community support charities has changed.”
Continued efforts and fundraising in 2026
A series of further fundraising events are being carefully planned by Nikolett and Sue, who hope to expand the reach of the Day Centre and ensure anyone who could benefit from their support feels comfortable and able to do so.
Nikolett said: “Once you are diagnosed with or have survived a brain injury in a general hospital, there is no pathway for your recovery. You get discharged, and then you are alone. So if people don’t know about us, they will be isolated at home and suffering in silence. We need people to know about us if they need us.”
Sue added: “I was made ambassador around nine years ago now, which I absolutely love, because they did so much for Paul and for me, it was just incredible. He really found where he belonged.”
