In support of Brain Injury Awareness Week Intertrust has donated a cycling helmet to each primary school in Jersey.  

This follows the donation of 400 helmets last year to schoolchildren and the general public across the Channel Islands.

Brain Injury Awareness Week, which was at the start of September this year, is an annual Headway event to raise awareness of acquired brain injuries and the support available to sufferers locally. 

Headway Jersey delivered the helmets to local schools as part of a series of events staged last week. The charity provides essential support, information and services to people in Jersey who are affected by acquired brain injuries.

From 17 September Headway will give Brainsense awareness talks at primary schools to teach children how to protect their heads through the use of cycle helmets and the impact that concussion has. The children will each be given a Brainsense brochure and will be encouraged to pass on what they have learnt to family members. 

During Brain Injury Awareness Week, Headway also ran a wacky hats day where islanders wore hats to raise money for the charity. Some of the primary schools took part in a competition and were given colouring books with a picture of a cycle helmet to create their own design. Each school will nominate an entry and the Headway members will choose the winning design, with the school then receiving six further cycle helmets.

Headway is also working with the States of Jersey Police to get identification cards introduced in the island. The ID cards will be for anyone who has suffered from a brain injury and is a member of Headway Jersey. The cards will show members of the public and first responders that the holder has had an acquired brain injury. 

Helene Senior, head of corporate social responsibility at Intertrust, said: “It’s great to be supporting Headway again to help raise awareness of acquired brain injuries through this incentive. Headway work extremely hard to educate islanders how to stay safe, especially on the road, and we’re pleased we can help by donating branded cycle helmets.”

Bryce Alford, fund raising and event manager at Headway Jersey, said: “We’re so grateful for Intertrust’s continued support. It's great to be able to give schoolchildren these helmets, as acquired brain injuries caused by accidents on the roads can be very severe. Making sure you wear a helmet, you're aware of what is happening around you and you know your highway code is extremely important and can dramatically reduce the risk of injury.

“The response from the schools has been amazing and we look forward to going back to teach them more about Brainsense awareness.”

Last year Intertrust teamed up with various community groups including The Cycle Centre Jersey, the police, Headway and Bikeability to donate 400 cycle helmets to Channel Islands schoolchildren.