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Barclays Wealth staff help Headway stitch together fundraising initiatives

Friday 14^th May 2010

Following a substantial donation from Barclays Wealth in 2009, staff at the UK’s largest wealth manager feel so passionate about local charity, Headway, that they’re donning walking boots and baking cakes to help the charity even further.

In November 2009, Headway secured £4,500 funding through the Barclays Wealth Community Awards to enable the charitable group to buy much needed equipment for its crafts programme which enables service users to spend one day per week creating items which are sold through the charity’s shop. Having got to know more about the charity during the awards process, Barclays Wealth staff have committed to helping Headway further as part of the organisation’s awareness week, Action for Brain Injury which runs from 17th-23rd May.

Bethany Gallichan, Fundraiser for Headway, commented: ‘We were delighted to secure the Barclays Wealth funding required to roll out our crafts workshop initiative which provides service users the opportunity to develop skills while helping them to feel a sense of achievement on completion of each item created. The crafts workshop produces quality goods for sale in our charity shop or through our website www.headway.org.je and thanks to the funding for the new sewing machines from Barclays Wealth we now have modern machines that don’t break down every 10 minutes. If that weren’t enough, I am delighted that staff at Barclays Wealth have been so moved by the work of our organisation that they have decided to support us through a number of additional fundraising initiatives and events.’

Starting as a small support group for a few families, Headway Jersey has grown dramatically over recent years to become an organisation with over 100 local survivors of brain injury on its books although the group recognises that there are more local people that are not accessing the help provided by Headway. Many survivors of brain injury experience a lack of confidence and Headway provides support in a number of ways including the provision of a calm, supportive environment with regular social events both in the Headway Centre at Le Coie and outside accompanied visits to help them reintegrate back to normality. This support has been essential for some but others have different needs. For this reason each brain injury survivor is assessed to see how the charitable group can help and what services are appropriate.

Barclays Wealth staff have volunteered to help Headway with some collections in St Helier as part of Headway’s awareness week. The team will also be taking part in the Wear a Hat for Headway Day and have organised an internal cake sale on 21st May. Ten staff members are also undertaking the Mencap South Coast Challenge on Sunday 16th May and have chosen to use this opportunity to raise additional funds for Headway.

Paul Savery, Managing Director, Barclays Wealth in Jersey, commented: ‘I am delighted that the Barclays Wealth Community Awards donation has been put to great use and that service users are benefitting from the new equipment. I am also very proud of our staff who have taken it upon themselves to organise a number of activities to raise further monies for Headway.’

The Headway group meets each Tuesday for the crafts workshop at which crafts and cards are lovingly handmade by members who have experienced a brain injury. Craftwork requires patience and dexterity and can help members build up confidence, gain skills and enjoy a social activity. The sale of the crafts enables Headway to continue to grow and extend its services to new members. To date members of the crafts programme have displayed an improvement in concentration and hand eye co-ordination.

Barclays Wealth in Jersey gave away a total of £38,000, which was £13,000 more than expected, to help local charitable and community projects through the annual Barclays Wealth Community Awards in 2009. The awards support projects that will make a real difference to local people in a variety of ways. The Barclays Wealth Community Awards are open to registered charities that have representation in Jersey. Details of the 2010 awards will be announced later in the year.

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