New Headway SW London Social Group Launch

1. March 2011 Monthly Newsletter HEADWAY SOUTH WEST LONDON Registered Charity: 1049461 Affiliated to HEADWAY UK, the brain injury association New Headway SW London Social Group Launch What’s new? Our new Social Group is starting in March- join us then for an evening of ten pin bowling. It promises to be an entertaining evening and don’t worry, you don’t have to be a bowling pro to join in the fun. When? Tuesday 22 March at 7.30pm How much? £8 each for 2 games- pay on the night Where: Meet at the newly revamped Sutton Palace Superbowl, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1AT. RSVP: For booking purposes, please RSVP by Tuesday 15 March 2011 to: supportgrouphswl@gmail.com or call Headway SW London Helpline to on 077 22 86 16 42 to let us know you’re joining us. Look forward to seeing you then. • Diary date for future Social Groups: • Tuesday 24th May 2011 at 7.30pm. We’re arranging a meal out in Wimbledon… watch this space for further details… NEXT SUPPORT GROUP: March 8th2011 Contact Information: Phone number: 077 22 86 16 42 Email address: headwayswlondon@gmail.com Meeting address: Wolfson Rehabilitation Centre, Copse Hill, Wimbledon, SW20

2. February’s Healthy Living Night Inspirational Heroes Honoured in National Awards The awards, held at the prestigious Dorchester Hotel, acknowledged the hard work of Rosie Wilson awarded as campaigner of the year. Rosie's daughter Frances, sustained a severe brain injury following a failed attempt to take her own life. Since that fateful day in 2007, Rosie has passionately fought for more supported living units in Cambridgeshire for people with brain injury. In addition, Rosie has dedicated her time and emotion to warning other parents about sickening and dangerous internet sites that provide encouragement and instruction to assist young, vulnerable people to commit suicide. Volunteer of the year was awarded to Brenda Williams, in recognition of her inspirational determination to help those with brain injury rebuild their lives, despite sustaining a brain injury herself in 2008 following a road traffic accident. Brenda has served her local group in a variety of ways since 1995, including acting as a trustee. Brenda's support for Headway has never waned throughout the past 15 years, despite a personal tragedy when her son was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. As well as caring for her son, she has never stopped her work in helping people rebuild their lives following brain injury, for which Headway is eternally grateful. • We had great attendance at our February meeting and everyone was keen to learn about Healthy Living from therapists from QEF Neuro-rehabilitation services. • We started by trying to remember all five food groups and the amounts of each that we are meant to eat during the day according to the “food pyramid”. This was quite surprising and I’m still not sure I could manage to eat six to eight servings of bread, pasta or rice in one day! We also learnt some interesting things about the benefits of changing small things in your diet – for example, switching to wholegrain pastas or breads which release energy more slowly. • We then talked about the benefits of exercise. We discussed the advantages of different types of exercise and how often we should try and exercise each week. It was a very informative and interesting session and I think the message of the evening was everything in moderation! Cycle London to Paris June 2011 This long weekend challenge links two great European cities, London and Paris, covering around 300km in just 3 days. Encounter historic towns, sleepy villages and rolling countryside en-route. Cycle along wide Parisian boulevards to the finishing line at the city’s most famous landmark, the Eiffel Tower. Free day to explore the sights of Paris before boarding the Eurostar train back to London. Confirmed dates: 24 - 27 June 2011 Contact Claire for more details including registration costs: claire@classictours.co.uk 020 7619 0066 ext 208. Don’t miss the Support Group meeting on Tuesday 8th March 2011, when ‘Canine Partners’ will be visiting. This charity provides specially trained dogs to assist people with a range of disabilities gain more independence and a better quality of life. We’ll be joined by one of these very special dogs and his trainer, who will show and tell us respectively about their work. This promises to be a really interesting evening, finding out more about this remarkable service. March Support Group NEXT SUPPORT GROUP: March 8th2011 Contact Information: Phone number: 077 22 86 16 42 Email address: headwayswlondon@gmail.com Meeting address: Wolfson Rehabilitation Centre, Copse Hill, Wimbledon, SW20