The Magic of Chaos

there's a spirit of joy that runs through this place and people feel it as soon as they walk in the door Bono my friend morning Cherry yeah you can Boog It Go the acceptance that everybody has of each other the understanding that people have no love really I love all the people the staff and the fact that all the members can be free and do what they want to do head by East London is a charity supporting people with brain injuries we have a day service an evening service a community support worker service a therapy team and a casew work service what can I say like yeah it's huge for people to feel completely welcome and understood or like they don't have to be understood it's the best thing that happened to me as a person with a long-term disability now and it's the best thing that happened for my

family I'm Miriam and I was employed 25 years ago to set up headways London it was uh the most amazing thing that I've probably ever done these are some of the very early ones this is the first member that we ever had Steven me getting pied in the face by Adrian all the crazy things that we did to raise money I didn't have any prior knowledge of brain injury it was about just accepting people as they were as you would get to know anyone in the street you don't go and ask them oh have you had a brain injury have you got a mental health problem you know you just talk to them as a person and I think that was the sort of founding principle for me bringing people into a safe space and letting them be themselves

that's my mom volunteering is that Sarah that's Sarah yeah they all came up my kids and helped out I am Sarah I'm now the chief executive of head race London I was 12 when Mom got the room the Headway London room in the homon from the minute It Started from the tiny room it's always had that feeling a lot of love

I remember saying that I deliberately didn't employ people who were healthc Care Professionals or carers people have spent so long in hospital and so long in Rehabilitation they don't need people fussing around them I just opened up the room as if I was opening up my home and my knowledge about brain injury and how it impacts people grew over

time after brain injury is quite well known that relationships break down a lot of people's personalities might change like people just get angry at someone for not being who they were when they're already struggling with that fact themselves and whether that's like your place in the family you've got a really short memory and you're just going to get lost or you can't keep up with people in the same way so there's a lot of people navigating

breakdowns my name is Mary CLA Catherine nonchalant it doesn't feel like you're quite human or quite an adult it's like you've lost your place in your family and Society everything all that once cuz I literally had an aneurysm and hit the Taps and that was it I woke up and my life was totally different it was like I reverted to being a really naughty child that I never was and I looked in the mirror and I looked the same but nothing else was the same and the hospitals don't let you know that but how do I do cuz with braining God love us but we are really difficult people when we first come out Hospital yeah hi hi so are you excited about in the CER I've never done it

before a lot of things are taken away a lot of things and it took four years of heavyduty therapy at Headway for me to accept what happened to me offering the support like Psychotherapy support but also just having other people that they can talk to that didn't know them before their injury you just accepted for how you are today and I think that's really really important because I think a lot of people struggle with that day

today I think the sense of community for people is so important because it's a fundamental human need to belong and be part of something you look lovely today by the way let's look at the fit the fit is amazing it's all about the cheek B it is certainly the idea that everyone no matter whether you're staff member volunteer visitor whoever you are you've got something to give something to contribute and if we start differentiating between who's who people feel less able to do that less able to bring their opinions less able to make art less able to make a decision about what's going to be cooked at a supper club or whatever it is hello kitchen crew

my name is Dave I've been a Headway member since

2015 in 2003 I had viral entis a rare viral swelling of the

brain the first time I went to Headway I was taken back by two things the art studio and the kitchen oh there it is I've been in a couple of days Services I've been inpatient Hospital rehabs and never been allowed in the kitchen check out the guns of the D

Master the Headway kitchen had no door it had eight people in it making lots of noise coming towards one goal of helping to feed the rest of the community so lunch at Headway is made by the members for the members and staff there some dry card yeah man smell delicious I'm Thomas and I am kitchen manager and I've been at Headway for I think it's probably going to be 14 years this year the supper clubs that we do in the kitchen Headway eats is really powerful because it bleeds across that boundary and that idea that we're doing something that has meaning in the World At Large that's something that for our members is quite a special experience cuz most the time they're kind of in a position in their lives where they're recipients of care or they're certainly seen as that they're fulfilling this incredibly meaningful role where they're providing for others it just flips out on its head that's a really magic thing this actually is the top of a tea chest

that's a reminder of who we are for when we're in the kitchen were you an artist before you went ahead um no I I woke up about 3 years after my brain injury one morning and had an epiphany moment I went I'm going to be an artist and my wife went of course you are you wanted to be Snoop Dog when you came out of hospital and it felt like someone had open up a filing cabinet in the back of my head and just let out creativity

my name is Michelle I work with the artists of submit to love Studio

beautiful 90% of the people that come into the studio have never done art before and my role is to tap into

that so much is lost when it comes to brain injury in particular identity and the Art Studio it allows people to really tap into their innate creator

some of the artists can only paint with one finger others can only communicate with the blink of an eye so it's about finding ways in which people can make create with whatever they

have my name is Mara but I'm also known as Maggie honey yeah a question for you yes when did I start head Headway you started Headway when when you have your head injury and it happened just over there in the garden yeah and you had an aneurysm yeah you were pregnant as well whose fault was

it hardly fair it takes two to tango you said it takes two to tango yeah that was to answer your question 13 years

ago when did you make this today uh yeah smells very good made with love love is the answer to everything you ever make it without love no have you made many friends at Headway Mar Headway is like my second family it's the best place to be and some people are a very sad stage in life aren't they where it's just happened and then to have people decades later you still there still an injury but they're living their lives I like that when I go there because um a lot of people gravitate to you don't they you've been there and you're enjoying life of course life is too short enjoy enjoy life now my children my my husband are my rock and of course my carer I am so lucky for this family of mine I'm lucky to have you as a mom oh good it's a good thing to say have you been T yes the few times I've been there uh I've been forced to sing by my mom it's weirdly more easy to communicate with people compared to like like outside of Headway

I think it's because they're similar to Mom in the case and it's quite nice just singing with other people as well cuz a lot of people sing there I remember the first time SE come in one of the members he came in to join us in the music and as soon as we started to sing he burst into tears and I turn around and I said said what's happening it's very touching because it's healing sometimes it's good for you to feel it so you can help other people in that area what they are going

through it's more cake my name is tasim everyone calls me Taz I work as a day service manager I've been working at Headway for 13 years it's got this hook this attraction that I can't explain everyone treats you for who you are we have about 150 members coming in most members here come for Life getting through that waiting list isn't always easy it's a lot of advocating lots of appeals we want to grow if you want to do all these projects we need the funding we have members who already struggle with housing situations transport in the community it's not the same as mental health whereas there wasn't always always a category to say brain injury we really fought for that awareness especially working really closely with DWP that training that education around brain injury in the system isn't prevalent so it's a

challenge hi um Yi um a PE support

worker Headway is London I was a normal person I was studying working

and sudden at the age of 17 I had my injury and yeah to start all over

again at that time there was a much support so I did don't know what happened to me I just felt like I'm by

myself I had to make a decision and say this is not me I'm not going to let it take over my life I started learning about Head Way meeting other people at to come out of it at some

point being a member for almost 10 years and now I'm a member of Staff going into

hospitals to help people who just had their brain injury something PL just happened I see that girl that know what to do was so scared I've seen it all and I don't want no one to go through what I went through there's thoughts of suicide there lots of mental health that comes with brain injury I want to be there to hold the hand if might be just to have a cup of the CH at least you know there's someone

there I love make car these people are the one that push you they are behind your back to push you I love them they're like family to I don't know about other people that's how I feel I always be like this to myself aren't you grateful you have to be grateful they left their family to walk in the cold to get to you will you do the same fory that's a question I always ask myself I would love to if I can if I can

it's often a strange experience for a 57 year-old to be relying on a 12-year-old as a young Cara people look at me and think well there's nothing wrong with you because I don't have the physical disability of a brain injury bit

more nice do I look like someone with significant brain damage

no do I act like a 15-year-old yes

yes that's possibly why we kind of get on quite

well oh no no oh what they

got Marlo is there anything that you've learned at Headway that has helped you deal with living with a dad with a brain injury I think uh definitely family counseling helped a lot to kind of learn more about Dad's brain injury also I think getting to see everyone else with a brain injury kind of taught me a bit about it's not all that bad it's always like people are happy there people are smiling people are always kind of um

happy oh knew was going to

happen Headway put my family back together again we were so busted busted beyond belief my God they saved my life both my kids' life my husband's life the family is actually in some respects more important than the person that's had the brain injury because the family needs to support that person and if they aren't given that structure to support that person they're all swimming in the dark look at my baby girl you're actually being filmed right now yo

oh couple of years ago hne Council was actually trying to move me to Birmingham I came out out of St meting thinking how am I going to go to Birmingham I don't know no one and the only choice that gave me was either that or be homeless I'm there having a panic attack and Sarah actually said to me when not you go like I think about that now every time because not letting go means aot to me

and she said it and she meant it someone with a brain injury might be out there and be disinhibited and some people might look at them and just be like they've got a mental health problem but not realizing this is organic damage that's you're not just going to fix that and our unique way is by showing people like yeah this is that person they've got these challenges that they have to break through every day and then look what they can do Keith the resident DJs with me how are you today not too bad when are you going to DJ again I haven't seen you do it for a while Friday this Friday brilliant all right I'll be there I feel embarrassed and I look back there cuz I love that place so much but the first 3 weeks that I went I cried the entire day but they are such a welcoming bunch of people once I stopped crying and looked around me um I made hundreds of friends and when I me hundreds it feels like I got hundreds of friends yeah they are so important to

me it's almost like if you could visualize

50 people every day with their arms around each other giving each other a big hug then that's what I would take away from Headway every time I go there we're all very specialized in our understanding of our own conditions but the bigger picture is that lots of us have similar experiences from brain injury so you can relate to other people that might not look like you walk like you talk like

you what do I like most about Headway getting somebody his name right first time

round I fell into a puzzle a puzzle in my head oh no now I've forgotten everything I said the story to be told with words rearranged but a voice inside is telling me that everything has changed now I think I see a shout the light a long long way ahead but

us see