Principal activities of the company

Supporting those living with acquired brain injury and their families, carers, colleagues and friends.Promoting and supporting independent living skills amongst those living with acquired brain injury.Providing rehabilitation services for those living with acquired brain injury.Assisting those living with acquired brain injury to reintegrate into their communities following their injury.Providing advice to those living with acquired brain injury and their families, carers, colleagues and friends.Promoting awareness of all aspects of acquired brain injury and the ways in which it can be prevented.

Additional information

The trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on the provision of public benefit and the trustees believe that Headway Surrey provides a public benefit to clients with acquired or traumatic brain injury, their carers, their families, local community, public services, SCC, NHS, Adult Social Care, Social Services and health care providers, providing specialist support not provided elsewhere.ServicesCentre Days*, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-3pm. Specially trained Rehabilitation Coordinators deliver a person centred, long term, annual curriculum of cognitive rehabilitation sessions, on brain injury education, attention, information processing, memory, executive skills and wellbeing. Attendance is unlimited, it can be six weeks or many years. Groups of up to 14 adults attend on set days, to focus on enablement, relearning lost every day cognitive skills and learning new skills and strategies to cope with brain injury deficits. Centre Days are divided into three sessions 1) Individual Bespoke Worksheet Sessions, 2) Group Workshop Session, 3) Games, activities, and socialisation practice Sessions. During the day, breaks and lunchtime are used to develop friendships, peer support, conversation and social skills (everyone brings their own packed lunch and breaks are taken together).One to One Support Sessions* are person centred and are held both in the centre and in the community. These are ideal for those that need more one to one support, or for those that cannot cope with a noisy or busy centre day session or need confidentiality or a more intense session. Rehabilitation Coordinators may use individual worksheets, teach new skills and strategies, provide wellbeing and anxiety support, support understanding correspondence, benefits, bills and information processing. Or extra support with vocational reintegration, signposting and support to volunteering, training or employment. Community Hubs are held at various locations across Surrey, these are normally up to 2 hours in duration for groups of up to 12 adults with acquired brain injury to meet others in similar situations, to meet their peers, form new friendships and support to live well with their brain injury in their area of Surrey. Carers and family members can attend as well and they gain support from each other.Headway Surrey Helpline is vital for advice and support (also email). Providing important information to those suffering from the consequences of a brain injury and also to their families and carers. This is a lifeline and an important initial contact point for families immediately after a loved one receives an injury or who is later discharged from hospital, or later when the family identify certain cognitive deficits that haven’t been picked up previously by medical professionals, as they have been concentrating on the physical recovery. It may be used soon after the brain injury or indeed many years afterwards.Friday Friends, is weekly and is for anyone with a head injury in Surrey, held between 10.30am-12.30pm. Each week has a themed activity such as art, cooking, boccia, debate, games, giving the opportunity to socialise, practice communication skills, stimulate neuro pathways, find support, information, friendship, reduce isolation, provide opportunities to meet new people, see the centre and encourage local community volunteering.Carers Support meetings are held monthly for an hour or two and provide the opportunity for family and carers to meet others in a similar situation, gain peer to peer support, to off load their concerns and to seek advice from the team.Befriending is offered to limited number of clients who wish to be matched with a volunteer who has similar interests to enable them to access social and recreational activities that they would not otherwise be able to achieve. Eg. Visiting a garden centre and cup of coffee. Game of squash and coffee.A Summer Outing to a place of local interest. The venue is selected by client nomination and vote. Eg. Watts Gallery, Mane Chance Horse Sanctuary. Outings take a great deal of planning for all concerned, however it does provide wonderful memories to the clients and discussion topics in advance of the visit and for the future.Christmas Lunches and Summer BBQs are held at Headway House for all the clients, carers, volunteers, Trustees, and staff. These are vital social opportunities, complete with BBQ trimmings, Father Christmas, entertainment and a gift. It offers an opportunity for local companies to be involved with volunteering and delivering the day.Work Experience is available at Headway Surrey for trainee psychologists, nurses, speech and language therapists etc. This provides great two-way learning opportunities for all involved and the clients gain additional benefit from meeting new people.Educational sessions, talks and presentations are given to families, groups and organisations that would like to understand brain injury, the presenting issues and how the charity operates.Collaboration and joint working is important and Headway Surrey is a member of the steering committee of Surrey Acquired Brain Injury Network (SABIN), attends regular meetings with Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, Long Term Neurological Conditions Group and Surrey Charities Chief Executive Group. As well as working with Surrey County Council, Adult Social Services, Adult Locality Teams, Adult and Community Care Teams NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, Surrey Borough Councils and many other organisations from the voluntary sector, funding organisations, local groups, companies and corporates. Volunteering is vital to Headway Surrey and there are a range of opportunities. For example, one-to- one support with clients, facilitating group sessions eg. quiz and boardgames, preparing refreshments and conversation practice, fundraising, event support, admin, gardening and trusteeship. All volunteers undergo an interview, DBS check, two references, trial period, induction and training. We have about 40 volunteers on our books.Achievements and performance report by the ChairThe year 2018/2019 was challenging and the financial challenges continue to keep us fully occupied, for 2019/2020, however we are also enthusiastic about our ‘Dare to Dream’ initiative which involved us carrying out an active consultation with staff, service-users, their carers and families from October – December 2019 to review what services we need to be providing into the next decade. The results of this identified some things that we were able to implement straight away – our regular social sessions were increased and themed to provide even more opportunities for clients to have social time in a safe setting, which provides a great opportunity for them to improve their self-confidence and decreases isolation.Some of the other things coming out of the consultation will take more consideration, but we are utilising some of our Strategic Development Fund to do that, looking at how we can provide more support services local to where our clients live. Also looking at how we can help survivors to find their way through the network of help and support services available, which can seem like a maze at the best of times.Our rehabilitation and one-to-one support services remain the core of our business delivered by our specially trained Rehabilitation Team, who hold the nationally recognised Certificate in Brain Injury from Northampton University and Headway UK. These services are provided at as low a charge as we possibly can, but we are finding that monies raised from the local authority are constantly under threat, and also that such funding doesn’t cover the actual cost of providing our services. Also, trustees believe that we must try and make our services as accessible as possible to those that need them. With this in mind, we will be setting up a Bursary Fund to enable us to subsidise the costs of services for those who are financially disadvantaged.I would like to thank all our volunteers and supporters, in all of their varying capacities, both past and present, for all of the support that has been and is provided to Headway Surrey. Simply put, we would not exist without you, and certainly the lives of our clients are enriched by your support.I would also like to thank the trustees for their support over the year 2019-20. This has been of tremendous help at a time of change and I welcomed new trustees: Amanda Ferguson, Sarah Ings, William Glover and Dr Jane Powell, to our Board. I would also like to pay special thanks to Keith Churchouse, a long serving trustee, who retired in March 2020 and who gave me considerable support in taking on the role of Chairman. We recognise his contribution to Headway Surrey since joining the Board in 2009 as a Trustee, Chairman and Treasurer. Our thanks also go to retiring trustee Claire Fargeot for all her contributions, for assisting me in reviewing all our Governance polices – a really important and useful exercise.Writing this as I do, after our year end, I know that the organisation faces huge challenges ahead as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I also see great opportunities: to be flexible and adapt to new ways of working, and also to listen to what our beneficiaries’ needs are and design new services to meet those needs. Above all, I know that we have a superb staff and volunteer team who will meet the challenges head on in order to give the best support possible to our beneficiaries.Financial reviewThe accounts for the year ending 31st March 2020 show income amounting to £216,746 (2019: £217,314) and expenditure amounting to £219,891 (2019: £188,058) and free reserves at the year-end were £60,915 (2019: £95,495). The balance on unrestricted funds is held as an operations fund.The Board of Trustees and senior staff carefully monitor income and expenditure on a monthly basis, and due to careful stewardship during the year were pleased to be aiming at a break-even position for FY19-20 as we entered quarter 4, however due to the huge impact of Covid19 on global markets, and hence on our investments, this has not been possible. We will monitor the situation carefully in FY20-21 and take steps to return reserves to previous levels whenever possible. The reserves policy is reviewed annually. To date it has been the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to one year’s expenditure, this has now been revised to six months. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. Trustees have supported an ultra-cautious reserves policy for two reasons:the charity is reliant on Surrey County Council (SCC) for a significant proportion of funds relating to provision of rehabilitation and support services and is therefore vulnerable should the Council make budget changes*.the clients supported by the charity are highly vulnerable and reliant on our support, we do not wish to have to withdraw vital services unnecessarily and wish to maintain a level of reserves which will enable us to weather major disruptive challenges without having to disadvantage our beneficiaries.*The above Reserves Policy was drafted following a situation in 2015 when the charity was severely affected by SCC making a 50% funding cut. It has taken considerable time to re-build reserves following that incident. During 2019 Headway Surrey’s funding have again been affected indirectly by SCC cutting payments for individual clients. The charity is aware that due to the financial pressures facing all Local Authorities, SCC may cut its funding further in the future.Due to the legacy of this situation, combined with the financial impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, reserves are currently sufficient to cover 4.7 months operation. Included in this figure are all funds held in cash deposits and investments in lower risk assets such as corporate bonds.The Strategic Development Fund of £170,000 was earmarked for the provision of future services as directed by the trustees. In Oct-Dec 2019 trustees carried out a consultation exercise with staff, clients, carers and families seeking to identify gaps in current service provision.The trustees have implemented a reserves investment strategy which is reviewed quarterly, and the balance of reserves has been suitably invested in an agreed mixed portfolio of shares and a series of deposit accounts which maximise the Government's £85,000 guarantee on savings deposits under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.The trustees have implemented an updated Ethical Investment Policy and the investment portfolio is reviewed regularly and adjusted as appropriate in order to maximise the income benefits to the organisation.Headway Surrey Head Injuries Association Ltd retains a long-term interest in the site at North Road, Guildford, having leased the land to Windsor and District Housing Association for a period of 125 years, at a peppercorn rent.The trustees have conducted a review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and procedures have been established to mitigate those risks. A risk register is reviewed regularly by the Board of Trustees. During 2019-2020 trustees carried out a review of all governance policies and procedures, updating policies where required.Individual client risks and activity assessments are carried out by staff as required. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with health and safety of staff, volunteers, clients and visitors to the centre and adequate public, employee and legal insurance is in place.Headway Surrey undertakes a National Standards Audit by Headway UK to ensure consistent quality of delivery for all operational and service aspects of the charity. Several areas for development were identified and Trustees have authorised expenditure of some of the fund in 2020 to scope:the possibility of an extension at Headway House to provide more space for extra activities,the provision of more regional hubs throughout Surrey to enable more beneficiaries to be supported in their local area,the recruitment of a Link Worker to build up links across the recovery and support pathway in Surrey to improve our ability to support clientssetting up Friends of Headway Surrey Scheme as part of putting in place a Bursary scheme – enabling us to provide free-of-charge support to clients who otherwise could not afford to access our servicesemploying an executive assistant to develop fundraising and communication capacity and therefore increase income generation.Our key strategic prioritiesFor the year 2019/2020 are to monitor, develop and assess service requirements appropriate to client needs to improve outcomes and services across Surrey and adapt to the challenges of new ways of working required as a result of the Covid19 Pandemic.Sustainable centre of excellence for ABI support in SurreySeek to become widely known as the ‘go to’ centre for advice and support for ABI in SurreyExpand services to reach clients across the breadth of Surrey, increase number of both supported and private paying clients, develop bursary scheme to support disadvantaged clients.Continue to support and attend (SABIN) Surrey Acquired Brain Injury NetworkTo continue to raise the profile of Headway Surrey and brain injury in and around Surrey to increase understanding of its causes and consequences.To increase service usage and diversify income with additional funding.To identify suitable key partners to form strategic alliances for developing services to address complex needs, including learning disability, stroke and brain tumours.ABI cognitive rehabilitation providing support and guidance for living well with ABIWeekly group workshops/ sessions and 1 to1 sessions in the Guildford centre and via Zoom. Expanded to accommodate 36 clients per week.To provide services across Surrey to accommodate 48 clients /weekMaximise number of clients being supported in order to make best use of available facilities and staffing and drive down cost/headProvide Helpline supportReview, assess and introduce management KPIs on visits/attendances at centre/ new clients to maintain values for our clients from our resources.Community Support - practical support to improve independence and signpost available support.Provision of 1 to 1 support in the home, community, or hospital for up to 10 Clients, supporting them to transition to centre-based support services or alternative support mechanisms.Support for obtaining Brain Injury ID CardsProvision of support for PIP, ESA, Funding assessment meetings.Social and emotional support to reduce loneliness and isolationFriday Friends weekly in Guildford or via Zoom rotating themes, Coffee mornings via Zoom introduce charging at low level.Social element to the regional outreach & supportFocus on Friends of Headway Surrey as a means of reaching out to carers and families. Helpline also available.

This report was approved by the board of directors on 17 September 2020
and signed on behalf of the board by:

Name: Dr R Bowden
Status: Director