Brain injury charity given council grant

A BRAIN injury charity based in Henley has received a £5,000 grant from the town council.

Headway Thames Valley has been unable to see clients face-to-face for much of the year but online sessions are held regularly.

The activity centre in Greys Road closed in March and the charity’s income is likely to be down by a quarter for 2020/21 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Every year since 2018, Headway has received a £5,000 grant to use for music therapy but it has not been possible to hold these sessions digitally.

Manager Jamie Higgins wrote to the council to ask if it would be possible to allocate the funds towards other activities that have continued to be held, such as art therapy, photography and DIY.

He said: “We were able to re-open the rehabilitation and activity centre at the beginning of September.

“However, due to a number of factors, it has not been possible to fully
re-establish the music therapy sessions at the centre.

“Usually these sessions take place with larger groups of people and involve being in close proximity to each other, using a set of communal musical instruments and singing as part of a choir.”

Members agreed to the request during a virtual meeting of the finance committee. Councillor Will Hamilton said the council should do anything it could to support the charity.

Mr Higgins told the Henley Standard: “We have struggled to hold the music therapy sessions online and it was something we just couldn’t offer our clients. We are over the moon that they agreed to our request.

“We have been operating at a loss in some areas. We are not the only organisation that is having concerns about finances and I am really happy with how we have been able to continue to help our clients. The support of the town council is vital to that.”