Headway Somerset is a registered charity and we therefore depend on the generosity and willingness of people to provide us with support. In the past we have been very fortunate to attract helpers from the communities in which our Headway Houses are located, but we can always use more, especially people with specific skills.

Volunteering:

Volunteers are a key component of the service we provide. Without them we would not be able to operate.  We have a number of different opportunities for volunteers, dependent upon the skills they may have or what type of work they would prefer to do.  For example, if you were interested in volunteering for us, you could work in one of our Headway Houses helping the staff, be more independent by helping clients in their own homes or by visiting patients and their families in hospital. 

Volunteers in our Headway Houses will befriend the clients, help us to provide activities for them, accompany them on trips out and prepare meals. In our experience they find the work stimulating, challenging and enjoyable, and they certainly make a difference to the lives of the people they help.

Our houses are open on Tuesdays and Fridays, between 10am and 4pm, and you can give as much time as you can afford - we will always be pleased to see you. Many of our volunteers spend all day with us, but others give a morning or afternoon a week, or just a few hours here and there. It is entirely up to you.

Outreach volunteers do a variety of work, sometimes on their own, sometimes with our staff. They may initially accompany our Manager on assessments or our Outreach Workers whilst conducting specific work programmes.  Once they are sufficiently skilled and confident we allow them to undertake their own programmes of work with clients and families, befriend and monitor clients who are living independently and act as 'buddies' to those clients who need to develop social networks. 

We also have a volunteer visiting service to provide support for families who have a relative in the head injury unit at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. The most stressful time for family members is whilst their loved one is still in hospital, and they have doubts, concerns, worries and questions they want answered. Our volunteers are there to provide help and advice, and to alert our staff to families who really do need more intensive support.

If you would like to know more about helping us as a volunteer we have a pack available which we can send to you. Contact us through our e-mail address, info@headwaysomerset.org.uk, or any of the other methods shown on our Contact Us page.

Making a Donation

There is much we would like to do for our clients in order to improve the quality of their lives, but financial constraints mean some projects have to remain no more than a dream. The other way in which you can help us is therefore by providing some form of financial assistance. Additional funds would help us to extend our Outreach Service, take clients on special trips, fund extra events or activities, or establish a more regular presence at hospital head injury units.

So your financial support could enable us to enhance our service significantly. There are several ways in which that could be done - through a single donation, by giving a regular amount each month through our Friends of Headway Somerset scheme, leaving Headway Somerset a legacy in your will or even through some form of sponsorship.

If you wish to help us in any of these ways then please contact us through our e-mail address, or by any of the other methods on our Contact Us page. We can then provide you with all the information you need.