Headway Emergency Fund Here to ease the costs of being by the bedside

Supported by The Stewarts Foundation

When a loved one sustains a brain injury, being by their side can mean everything, but it can also come with unexpected costs.

The Headway Emergency Fund offers grants of up to £500 to help families and friends cover essential travel and accommodation costs.

Support is tailored to individual needs and may be provided in instalments. It can last up to three months for those in acute care, or one month in post-acute rehabilitation.

We review requests regularly to make sure help is available when it’s needed most.

Who can apply

  • A family member or friend of someone in acute care or early rehabilitation with a brain injury diagnosis.
  • Families and friends of someone aged 18 or over.
  • Residents of the United Kingdom only.
  • Applicants with savings of less than £1,000.

If your loved one is under 18, please visit the Child Brain Injury Trust for guidance and support.

What we can't support

  • More than one application for the same patient
  • Applications covering more than one household
  • Costs you may have already incurred
  • Taxi fares
  • Any costs beyond emergency travel and accommodation

How to apply

Our online and postal applications forms are below, to complete an application you will need:

  • Your contact details
  • Information about your loved one
  • Grant requirements and the types of travel currently available to you
  • Hospital information

What happens next

Once we receive your application a member of our team will call you to discuss your application further.

We will also need to speak to hospital staff to confirm the brain injury diagnosis.

If you’re eligible, a member of our team will ask for the bank details you’d like us to use for payment. In most cases, if accommodation is necessary, we’ll arrange and pay for this directly.

If we’re unable to approve your application, we’ll do our best to guide you towards other sources of support.

Ready to apply?

When you’re ready, just click the ‘Apply now’ button to apply online or download a postal application form to print and post.

Apply now

All applications are carefully reviewed, and while we’re unable to revisit decisions once they’ve been made, please know that every application is considered with care. This approach helps us ensure we can support as many people as possible.

Contact us

Related information

My story

'It meant I could breathe'

Imagine being unable to afford to travel to be by the hospital bedside of your partner as they lie in a coma having sustained a brain injury? For Eleanor Simcox, and hundreds of others across the UK, this nightmare became a reality.

Find out how the Headway Emergency Fund gave the family space to cope. 

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Helpline

The Headway helpline is a free, confidential service available to anyone with a question about brain injury - from survivors and carers to students and professionals.

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Hospital treatment and early recovery

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Celebrating 10 years of the Headway Emergency Fund

Headway is celebrating ten years of its Emergency Fund, which provides grants to families facing the immediate aftermath of brain injury.

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Tracy Dickson

For Tracy Dickson, Headway’s support was crucial when her 19-year-old son, Brandon, sustained a hypoxic brain injury following a series of epileptic seizures that resulted in a cardiac arrest.

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Julie Mueller

Julie Mueller has nothing but praise for the Headway Emergency Fund after her son, Luke, sustained a brain injury in August 2020.

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